UX and UI design have become a popular avenue for fresh graduates and those looking to transition from related fields. This is mainly due to a growing demand for designers across multiple industries.

If you’ve just finished your design degree or a certificate program and are looking for a UI/UX job, it can be daunting to find a job. Many aspiring designers are daunted by the “X years of experience required” in job descriptions. But, fear not. There are still roles for those without any professional experience. We’ve listed 3 job positions that someone with no industry experience has a chance of landing, along with tips on how to get the job.

3 UI/UX Jobs That Require No Experience

Here are 3 UI/UX job positions that require little to no experience:  

UI/ UX Intern

A User Interface Designer Intern or User Experience Designer Intern is typically a generalist. The job description will call for basic knowledge about the industry and design principles and proficiency in design tools, like Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch. Typically, these roles will teach you:  

• User research
• Wireframing
• Basic information architecture

This role is perfect for those getting started out since they get to work closely with UX design specialists and product designers. You get valuable feedback from experts and learn how to put your design tools into action. The only downside is that many internships pay a minimal fee, and some might not pay at all. Many internships are also only available to fresh graduates and not for experienced professionals that want to change careers.

Junior UI/UX Designer

A junior designer is on the same level or slightly above the totem pole compared to an intern, but it is still an entry-level position. In this role, you will still work as a generalist assisting the more experienced members of your team. However, this is a full-time position, so there’s a higher chance of finding a specialty and developing your skills within the organization. Recruiters will likely count projects during a UI/UX bootcamp or internship as professional experience when hiring junior designers.

A junior designer role is suitable for both fresh graduates and aspirants that want to switch careers. If you’re already working in another field but have transferable skills, then applying for a junior role within the design team in your organization is one of the best ways to find a job. Some job postings also refer to Junior Designer as “Associate Designer.”

Junior UX Roles

There are plenty of roles that go into building an excellent user experience, including user research and UX writer. Many organizations offer junior positions to entry-level applicants on these teams, provided they have related work experience in a related field.

So, if you’re an experienced copywriter, you can apply to become a UX writer with basic design knowledge. These roles are excellent for individuals that want to get into UX design from another career or industry.

Is Experience Important In UI/UX Design?

Yes. Experience is important, but only to a certain extent. Recruiters use “years of experience” on job descriptions as a way to weed out people who don’t know what they’re doing. Rather than a firm requirement, experience is an arbitrary qualifier for suitable candidates.

So, what does that mean for you? It means that if you find an entry-level UI/UX job and meet most of the requirements, except for the “years of experience,” then you should apply anyway. Your chances of getting an entry-level job are more dependent on your design portfolio, resume, and any connections, rather than how long you’ve been in the industry. As a newbie, you have the chance to let your work speak for you. Recruiters will choose an inexperienced designer with a great portfolio over a slightly experienced professional with a mediocre portfolio. This is why it is essential to build a good UI/UX portfolio. Overall, years of experience should not be the only factor that stops you from applying to entry-level jobs.

Where to find UI/UX designer jobs?

Start with the usual sites, i.e., LinkedIn, Indeed, andGlassdoor. You can also try these design-specific job boards:  

1. 1. AIGA Design Jobs
   2. UX Jobs Board
   3. User Experience Professionals Association
   4. Dribbble
   5. IxDA Jobs

Next steps

Now that you know which jobs you can apply to, let’s focus on how you can land them. First, read this handy guide on how you can get a UI/UX job without prior experience. Second, check out Springboard’s UI/UX Bootcamp. Springboard’s online course will help you gain the necessary skills and experience needed to land your dream UI/UX design job.

The post What Entry-Level UI/UX Jobs Require No Experience? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From UX design to web design, app design to social design, there’s a whole range of design fields that have emerged in the digital era. Of course, this doesn’t mean graphic designers have to know how to code. However, having some idea about digital design can help you to create designs for print that translate to screens seamlessly, while a little knowledge of the basics of digital design can help you to broaden your skillset and offer your clients a little something extra.

If you’re starting out in graphic design, or are a seasoned print designer looking to learn a little more about the world of online design, this quickstart guide will help you to find your feet in the digital world.

What is Print Design?

Traditionally (i.e. before the birth of the internet), graphic designers were print designers and the two were synonymous. Print design includes, but isn’t limited to:

• Branding for print
• Packaging design
• Publishing and editorial design
• Stationery design
• Exhibition and signage design
• Poster design

Today, many graphic designers will find that the designs they create for print must also translate effectively to digital screens. While some graphic designers find that they can get by with knowing the basics (scroll down to Digital Design Tips for Graphic Designers, below), others might become full-time digital designers, applying their skills to web design, UX design or social media design.

What is Digital Design?

Although the majority of print design work is created using digital software, digital design refers to design which is created solely for digital purposes and devices. If you can see and interact with a design on a screen—whether it be on a phone, desktop or digital billboard—this is a form of digital design.

The main digital design disciplines are:

1. Web design

The original digital design discipline, web designers create the layouts and styling of websites, often with the help of a web developer.

While developers ensure the website is built, hosted and maintained, a web designer’s job is to define the aesthetic of the site. From selecting web fonts to formulating color palettes, defining photography styles to creating a wireframe (a sort of blueprint for the layout of the site’s pages), a web designer might create a live demo of the site before the developer takes over, or use web design software like Adobe Dreamweaver, Canva or Google Web Designer.

2. App design

Similar to the above, except that the designs are optimised for apps. App designers may have to take into account the limited screen size used by most app users, as well as give more consideration to icons, accessibility and UX design (see below).

3. UX and UI design

User experience (UX or UE) design is a relatively young discipline, and combines aspects of graphic design with psychology, interaction design and anthropology, as well as other fields. At its core, UX design aims to provide users of websites and apps with the best possible experience, allowing them to have a seamless and efficient journey through a digital design.

UI (user interface) design is different to UX in that it tends to focus more on the design and aesthetics of a digital design, and how this can be enhanced to achieve a better user experience.

4. Branding for web

Brand design is a more familiar subject for graphic designers, who are used to creating logos and identities for print media (see What is Print Design, above). Branding for web simply refers to how that brand design translates to digital media, such as websites and apps. For example, a graphic designer might need to provide a brand color palette with HEX swatches as well as printable CMYK versions, or optimise a logo design as a much smaller favicon for a browser tab.

5. Social media design

Social media design refers to designs created for social media, including but not limited to, posts and stories on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok, as well as social media advertising. Once the domain of social media marketers, businesses are increasingly seeking out specialised designers to create content for social media that uses creative designs for static and video content.

Now you know a little more about what the main digital design disciplines are, you might be wondering how you can start to use digital design in your own projects. Scroll down to learn  how you can adapt your design work for screens and discover tips and tricks for making your print designs digital-ready in no time!

Digital Design Tips for Graphic Designers

If the thought of UX design makes you turn pale, don’t panic! There is a good reason why these specialist disciplines have emerged over the past decade—each aspect of digital design requires particular experience and specialist knowledge. Of course, it’s very likely graphic designers—including traditional print designers—will have to interact with digital design at some point. The tips below are intended to help graphic designers engage productively with digital designers, and help adapt your print projects to screens.

Tip 1: Convert to HEX colour

While CMYK, spot colours and Pantone are the language of print designers, for digital designers RGB swatches are the standard, with HEX codes—which render RGB values as a hexadecimal code, e.g. #ff8e00 (dark orange)—used ubiquitously across web and app design.

Tip: If you create a CMYK palette, it’s not always a good idea to use automated conversion to create an RGB palette (i.e. by simply switching the colour to RGB using Adobe software or an eyedropper tool). RGB colour works by emitting light, making them appear very differently (and brightly in comparison) to their CMYK counterparts. You can use a colour tool like Adobe Color to convert and tweak colour swatches between CMYK and RGB modes.

• Read more about the difference between CMYK and RGB colour types here.

Tip 2: Design with interaction and animation in mind

As video content becomes increasingly normalised across websites and social media platforms, designers are becoming more used to adapting their static content for animation. While graphic designers don’t have to become animators overnight, it can be useful to consider how your design could be animated or incorporated into a video. Whether it’s a logo that could transform from one thing into another, or an illustration that could be animated as part of a simple GIF, think about how your static work could be given motion and dynamism.

Tip: You can use Adobe Photoshop’s Timeline feature to create quick video animations from static images (Window > Timeline).

Tip 3: Use typefaces that include web fonts

Graphic designers are always falling for the latest lust-worthy typeface…but take a moment to find out whether your typeface of desire is available as a webfont. Webfonts are fonts which have been specially created for use on websites and apps, and contain CSS code to allow the font to be rendered on your website for viewers to see.

While you can use OTF (OpenType Font) and other types of font files on most web applications, WOFF (Web Open Font Format) is the standard file type for use online.

Tip: Note that you will also usually require a separate webfont licence to use your chosen font on websites and apps.

Tip 4: Rethink sizing

A billboard is huge. A poster is big. A mobile phone screen is teeny tiny. Graphic designers who are used to creating layouts for large-scale media will need to get used to working in miniature when working on digital designs.

Tip: Reconsider the sizing of elements such as type, graphics, icons and buttons (hint: they will need to take up more space on your layouts to be legible). Develop a habit of viewing completed designs on your phone screen—this will give you a good sense of how legible elements are when set at a particular scale.

Tip 5: Consider accessibility and usability

While UX and UI designers are habituated with considering these issues, print designers are not always as well initiated when it comes to accessibility.

Why is accessibility important on screens? First of all, as pointed out above, screens are often much smaller than printed layouts, meaning that text and other elements are already more difficult to read and see. In addition, the brightness of screens can diminish the visibility and legibility of text for visually-impaired users.

Consider the effect of colour contrast, text size and layout design on how users can view and interact with your design. Vision simulator tools like Web Disability Simulator can help you to assess how a design would appear to users with different vision impairments.

Conclusion: Time to Go Digital?

While digital design is ever-evolving and ever-expanding, there will always be a place for print design in the industry. Nonetheless, print designers will undoubtedly have to consider how static, printable designs can be adapted for screens.

Armed with a little know-how about HEX colours and webfonts, even the most committed of print designers might be tempted to explore the exciting possibilities of digital design.

Want to keep a footing in the tangible world? These print design tutorials will help to hone your hard-copy skills:

• The Essential Guide to Print Finishes
• The Most Popular Standard Book Sizes in the US and UK
• How to Make a Zine in Adobe InDesign

Illustrations used throughout by Kate Pilko.

The post What’s the Difference Between Digital Design and Print Design? A Helpful Guide appeared first on InDesignSkills.

With many of us staying at home for the next few weeks, we wanted to help you dedicate some of that time to learning a new skill. Plus, we thought a bit of structure would help too!

We’ll work towards creating a business card in InDesign, in 5 bitesize tutorials over the course of the week. By Friday you’ll have an ultra-professional business card design, as well as having picked up key print design skills in InDesign, including:

Over the next week, we’ll help you create a professional business card from scratch. Each day, there’ll be a short video that takes you through document setup, layers, fonts, colour, and exporting your final design.

• How to Make a Document for Print
• How to Use Layers
• How to Use Fonts and Format Typography
• How to Apply Color
• How to Export Your InDesign Document Ready for Print

We really hope you enjoy it, and would love to see what you come up with. 

PLUS Adobe is offering 2 months of free Creative Cloud. Yup, that’s right, totally free. Find out more here.

Take advantage and seize the chance to up your InDesign Skills!

The post Go InDesign Pro in 5 Days! appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Great for magazine and poster design, this effect works best when you have dense text on a page. If you need to, brush up on the basics of creating a text wrap in InDesign here.

What You’ll Need to Create Your Text Wrap Effect

You’ll need access to a trio of Adobe programs—Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and, of course, Adobe InDesign.

You’ll also need a photo or vector graphic with a strong silhouette and preferably no background or a white background, so it can be easily removed. 

Here, I’ve already created a layout for a magazine, complete with columns of text. You can easily apply this effect to any similar layout you have created.

1. How to Prepare Your Image

You can use either a photo or vector image to create your text wrap effect, but if you’re using a photo you will need to follow a few extra steps using Photoshop and Illustrator. To allow text to wrap around a silhouette, you will need to create a vector shape. 

If you have a ready-to-use vector shape, skip ahead to Step 4.

Step 1

You might have a part of the image you’d like to maintain in the final effect, such as the umbrella handle. In this case, you will need to isolate the handle in Photoshop. To begin, open the original photo in Photoshop. 

To remove a white or plain colour background, go to Select > Color Range. Click once on the background to pick up the colour, before adjusting the Edge Detection slider in the Properties panel that opens. 

When you’re happy with the tightness of the selection around the edge of the shape, click OK. Then hit Delete on your keyboard to remove the background. 

Step 2

Use the Lasso Tool (L) to loop off any part of the image that is not the handle (the part you’d like to keep as a photographic image in the final result). 

Then hit Delete to remove the selection. 

File > Save As the image as a Photoshop file, which will preserve the transparent background. 

Step 3

Open Illustrator and File > Place, choosing the original photo, as before, and opening it. 

Go to Window > Image Trace. 

In the Image Trace window, set the Mode to Black and White. Check the Ignore White box at the bottom of the window.

Check the Preview button, and then experiment with the Threshold, Paths and Corners sliders, until you’re happy with the traced result. 

When you’re done click Trace to exit the window. 

Go to Object > Image Trace > Expand. 

Select the Eraser Tool (Shift+E) and use this to separate any parts of the image that you won’t want to use in the text wrap effect. In this case, this is the handle of the umbrella, which will be substituted with a photo version. Delete any parts of the graphic you won’t use. 

Step 4

Your vector shape is ready to use—you can either save this as a vector file (e.g. Illustrator, EPS), or Edit > Copy the vector directly in Illustrator, ready to Paste into your InDesign document. 

2. Create the Text Wrap Effect in InDesign

Step 1

In InDesign, expand the Layers panel, and lock the layer which contains all the text in your document. 

Go to New Layer from the panel’s main menu, and create a new layer for the text wrap image to sit on. 

Step 2

If you have a photo element to your image, use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create an image frame on the layout. 

File > Place the edited image you created earlier [in 1.1, above]. 

Step 3

File > Place or Edit > Paste (if you’ve copied the vector in Illustrator) the vector shape, and position it on the page. Use Shift and your mouse to scale it proportionally.

Expand the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches), and set the Fill Color of the vector shape to [None].

Step 4

Go to Window > Text Wrap to open the Text Wrap panel.

Select the shape and choose the third option along, Wrap around object shape, from the set of icons at the top of the panel. You can experiment with the Offset value to make the text wrap tighter or looser. 

For these ‘invisible’ wrap effects, it’s usually better to have a tighter text wrap, and therefore a low offset value, such as 0 mm. 

Pro Tip

You may also want to create a subtle text wrap around some photographic elements on your layout. 

To do this, you can create a quick vector shape directly in InDesign using the Pen Tool (P). Trace your way around the element you want to wrap text around, lopping it round to create a complete shape. 

Then apply the Wrap around object shape option in the Text Wrap panel, and ensure the Fill Color of the shape is set to [None]. 

Great Job!

Your ‘invisible’ text wrap effect is finished. 

Why not try using this technique for a variety of different shapes to create interesting and stylish concepts in your magazine and poster designs?

Ready to get creative? Discover more great InDesign tutorials here, or brush up on your type skills with these typography tutorials.

The post How to Create Invisible Text Wraps in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Fear not! Read on for your straightforward guide to types of digital and print image files, as well as where (and where not) to use them.

Check out how to work with images in InDesign.

1. JPEG (files ending in .jpg)

The most common and versatile of types of image file, JPEG (or JPG) stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Catchy.

JPEGS are compressed image files, resulting in a smaller file size than the original, pre-exported file. JPEGs are raster files, meaning that they lose quality when scaled, and can appear blurry or pixelated if scaled to a larger size than they have been saved to.

Because JPEGs can be saved with particular dimensions and quality (usually measured in DPI, dots per inch), they are useful for when you have an idea of the space the image will need to occupy. For example, if you want to use an image on a printed magazine cover, you can size the JPEG to the dimensions of the cover, and set the resolution to 300 dpi (see tip, below).

Where to use a JPEG: Photos on websites and print media.

Top tip: For print design, JPEGs are best used at a minimum of 300 dpi. For websites and apps, a 72 dpi resolution will suffice.

2. PNG (files ending in .png)

PNG images (standing for Portable Network Graphic) are essential tools for web design. Able to preserve the quality of text and lines better than JPEGs, they are also able to preserve transparencies.

PNGs are usually larger files than JPEGs, which is why they are not usually used for saving images that are photos only.

Where to use a PNG: Images that contain a mix of photos and text, or logos and other exported vector images, on websites and apps.

3. TIFF (files ending in .tif)

TIFF image files, which stands for Tagged Image File Format, contain a large amount of image data. They are uncompressed, resulting in very large file sizes, but as a result are flexible in terms of color, preserve layers and image tags, and are of a very high quality.

Though usually used for print design due to their large size, TIFFs can be rendered in both CMYK and RGB color.

Where to use a TIFF: Print media and high-quality website images; photos for printing or using online.

4. GIF (files ending in .gif)

Having achieved fame as easily shareable animations, GIFs are probably best known for bringing the antics of household cats to the masses on Tumblr and WhatsApp.

Standing for Graphic Interchange Format, GIFs are compressed image files, but in contrast to JPEGs the compression is lossless, resulting in a larger file size.

GIFs have a limited color range, meaning they are rarely used for photos online, and almost never used in print design.

Where to use a GIF: Low-quality images and animations for websites and apps.

5. EPS (files ending in .eps)

Short for Encapsulated PostScript, EPS files contain vector image content. Compatible with most vector editing software, like Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW, EPS files can be scaled up or down to any size, without compromising on quality. They can also be edited using vector software.

Not usually used on websites because of their large size, EPS files are most commonly used as shareable image files for illustrators and designers. For example, one individual can save a logo or other vector file as an EPS file in Adobe Illustrator, and share this with another individual who can open and edit the file in CorelDRAW.

Where to use an EPS: Use as a more flexible ‘native’ file format (see below), for sharing editable vector files with others or across different vector programs.

6. ‘Native’ and Raw Image Files

One of the most baffling things for novice designers to be faced with is to be asked for a ‘native’ image file. A vague term indeed, but essentially a native file refers to the original file type that the image was created in.

The most commonly requested native file types are those generated by Adobe software, such as PSD (Adobe Photoshop), INDD (Adobe InDesign) and ASE (Adobe Illustrator) files.

Usually native files are requested by designers (or clients) from other designers, so that they are able to access  and optionally edit and re-export the image.

Raw image files are similar, in that they are unprocessed, non-exported images, but raw files are normally used by photographers and photo editors, as these files contain data from digital cameras.

Where to use Native and Raw image files: To exchange original, editable images with other designers or clients.

Learn how to wrap text around images in InDesign in this quick and simple tutorial.

Discover more beginner’s tips and tutorials for getting started in Adobe InDesign, and pick up some essential graphic design skills.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Types of Image File appeared first on InDesignSkills.

By the end of the tutorial you’ll have a zine template you can customise to make a more unique design.

Suitable for relative beginners to InDesign, this is a great all-round introduction to basic print design techniques.

What You’ll Need to Create Your Zine

As well as access to Adobe InDesign, you’ll need a selection of images and fonts to use in your zine.

To recreate the design pictured here, you can download the following photos and fonts:

• Traditional bohol

• Woman smoking cigar

• Market vendor

• Double exposure portrait

• Cormorant font

Install the font onto your computer and you’re ready to start designing.

How to Set Up the Zine Document in InDesign

Step 1

Open InDesign and go to File > New > Document.

Set up the document for Print, with an A5 page size (148 x 210 mm). Set the number of pages to 10 and make sure Facing Pages is checked.

Add a Top and Bottom Margin of 19 mm, set the Inside Margin to 21 mm and the Bottom Margin to 25 mm.

Finally, add a 5 mm Bleed to all edges except the Inside edge, and click Create.

Step 2

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers).

Double-click on Layer 1 and rename this Color.

Create two more new layers — Photos, and Type.

Step 3

Expand the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches).

Choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s drop-down menu (at top-right).

With the Type set to Process and Mode to CMYK, set the levels below to C=96 M=82 Y=3 K=0. Click Add and Done.

Create a second new swatch, C=0 M=86 Y=89 K=0.

Step 4

Choose New Gradient Swatch from the Swatches panel’s menu.

Name the swatch Gradient Swatch. Click on the left-hand stop on the Gradient Ramp, and choose your blue swatch, C=96 M=82 Y=3 K=0, from the Stop Color menu.

For the right-hand stop choose your red swatch, C=0 M=86 Y=89 K=0.

Click Add and Done.

2. How to Edit Your Zine’s Master Pages

Step 1

Double-click on the A-Master icon at the top of the Pages panel (Window > Pages) to bring up the master on your screen.

Use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame across the bottom of the left-hand page.

Here you can place page numbers. With your type cursor in the frame, go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number.

You can format the page number using the Swatches panel and Character and Paragraph panels (Window > Type & Tables > Character / Paragraph).

Step 2

Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste the page number text frame, moving this over to the right-hand page.

Step 3

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a tall, narrow shape across the left edge of the spread, taking it up to the bleed, and allowing a small area to extend onto the page.

Set the Fill Color of this to Gradient Swatch.

Copy and Paste the rectangle, and on the copy, Right-Click > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

Move this over into a mirrored position on the right-hand page.

Step 4

In the Pages panel, Right-Click on the A-Master icon, and choose Duplicate Master Spread “A-Master”.

On the new B-Master, select and delete the page number text frames.

Step 5

In the Pages panel, select the top [None] master page, and choose Apply Master to Pages from the panel’s drop-down menu.

We want to have no master applied to the front and back cover of our zine, which is on pages 1 and 10 of our document. So type in 1, 10 and click OK.

Select the B-Master icon in the Pages panel, and, as before, choose Apply Master to Pages. You want to apply the B-Master to any pages which you don’t want to have page numbers. In this case, I type in 2, 6, before clicking OK.

3. How to Section Your Zine

Step 1

In this zine, I want to split the document into two sections, with page 1 beginning on what is currently page 3 of the document.

To begin a new section, Right-Click on the page you want to start as page 1 (in this case page 3), and choose Numbering & Section Options.

Step 2

In the New Section window that opens, check Start Page Numbering at, and set this to 1.

Then click OK. You’ll get a warning message, but don’t worry about that. Just click OK.

Step 3

On the first page of the document, Right-Click > Numbering & Section Options.

As before make sure Start Page Numbering at is selected and set to 1. But this time choose a different Style for the Page Numbering, such as lowercase roman numerals. Then click OK.

4. How to Create a Front Cover for Your Zine

Step 1

Working on the first page (i) of your document, and on the Color layer, use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a shape across the whole page, extending the edge up to the bleed on the top, right and bottom sides.

Set the Fill Color to Gradient Swatch.

You can adjust the strength of the gradient from the Gradient panel (Window > Color > Gradient). Here I want to make the gradient blend more abruptly in the center of the page.

Step 2

Copy and Edit > Paste in Place the rectangle shape, adjusting the Fill to your blue swatch, C=96 M=82 Y=3 K=0.

With the blue shape selected go to Object > Effects > Transparency, and bring the Opacity down to 30%.

Click on Inner Glow in the panel’s left-hand menu. With the Mode set to Normal, click on the colored square to adjust the Effect Color to your red swatch, C=0 M=86 Y=89 K=0.

Increase the Opacity to 100%.

Set the Source to Centre, Size to around 55 mm, Choke to 50% and Noise to about 45%. Then click OK.

Step 3

Working on the Type layer, use the Type Tool (T) to add text to your cover, setting the Font to Cormorant and Font Color to [Paper].

5. How to Build Up Content on the Inside Pages of Your Zine

Step 1

Select both rectangle shapes sat on the Color layer on the front cover, and Copy them.

Scroll down to the first inside spread of your zine, and Paste the shapes, moving them over onto the left-hand page.

Step 2

Edit > Paste a second time, and with this copy selected, go to Object > Convert Shape > Ellipse.

From the top Controls panel adjust the Width and Height of the circles to 108 mm.

Then move these over the top of the left page, positioning them centrally. Shift the top circle slightly up and to the right to create a slightly blurry effect.

Step 3

You can add text to your zine using the Type Tool (T), and working on the Type layer.

Here, I’ve added text set in Cormorant and a blue, C=96 M=82 Y=3 K=0, Font Color, to the right-hand page of the spread.

Step 4

Use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create image frames on some of the pages of your zine.

Go to File > Place to drop images into the frames.

Step 5

Use the swatches you’ve already created to format text, adding a touch of color to your typography.

Here, I’ve also set the text to Align towards spine (which you can find in the top Controls panel with the Type Tool selected).

Step 6

Use elements you’ve already created, such as the colored rectangles and circles on the first spread, to create a quick and simple design for your back cover, on the final page of the document.

Make sure to add your website to the back cover too.

6. How to Export Your Zine for Print

Step 1

File > Save your artwork, then go to File > Export.

Choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format menu, name your file, and then click Save.

Step 2

In the Export Adobe PDF window, choose Press Quality for the Adobe PDF Preset, at the top.

Make sure the pages are set to Export As: Pages (not spreads).

Click on Marks and Bleeds in the left-hand menu. Check All Printer’s Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings, before clicking Export.

You can send off this PDF document straight to the printers, great job!

Eager to pick up more print design skills? Check out our magazine design tutorials, or download free magazine templates for InDesign.

The post How to Make a Zine in Adobe InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From magazine cover tutorials to EPUB tutorials, and everything in-between, you might discover something you’d never thought you could create using this versatile layout software.

1. Magazine Design Tutorial (& Template)

One of our most popular InDesign tutorials, this walkthrough is great way to get an overview of all aspects of InDesign. You can use InDesign to create both the interior layouts and covers for magazines. All major magazine titles you’ll see at the newsstand, from Vogue to GQ, will have been created using InDesign.

Get started with creating your own print magazine from scratch with this duo of easy-to-follow tutorials.Download this free template for a magazine cover, and adapt it to create your own unique design.

2. EPUB Tutorial

InDesign isn’t limited to creating designs only for print. The latest version, CC, is perfectly equipped to help you create documents for ePublishing (EPUBs), such as eMagazines, eBooks and interactive PDFs.

This InDesign tutorial leads you through the basics of creating and publishing your own EPUBs using InDesign.

3. Invitation Tutorial (& Template)

Giving you a great overview of how to design pretty documents in InDesign, this InDesign tutorial is a great place to start. With a sophisticated interface designed to allow you to set up high-quality print designs, which include foiling, die-cutting or embossing, InDesign is the perfect choice for creating high-end stationery like wedding and event invitations.

Take a look at this free-to-download botanical wedding invite template, which consists of both an invitation and save-the-date card.

4. Flyers and Brochure Tutorial (& Template)

Looking for a tutorial to help give your marketing materials an update?

You can create flyers, brochures and booklets quickly and easily in InDesign, which is perfectly tuned for creating single-page, double-sided and multi-page documents for print.

This free flyer template provides you with an easy-to-edit foundation for creating your own tri-fold flyer designs.

5. Book Cover Tutorial (& Template)

Creating book covers can be fiddly. But setting up a wraparound cover with a spine and bleed is a doddle using InDesign’s handy grids and guides.

In this InDesign tutorial you’ll learn how to set up a cover design for a paperback book in InDesign to a professional standard.

6. Typeset Pages for Books Tutorial

In this InDesign tutorial we’ll tackle the art of typesetting. Typesetting is the process of arranging long pieces of text on either a single page, or across a long document, such as a book, magazine or report.

While word-processing programs can limit the amount you can do with typesetting, InDesign allows you to typeset to a professional standard. This easy-to-follow tutorial shows you how to get started with typesetting the interior pages of books.

7. Business Card Tutorial

Business cards may be small, but they have to make a big impact. InDesign allows you to create beautiful business cards, perfectly optimised for print, in next to no time.

This InDesign tutorial will help you get started on the right foot by discovering the standard sizes for business cards.

8. Letterhead Tutorial (& Template)

Letterheads have abandoned their dusty reputation, as it’s now easy to achieve a stylish, on-trend look for your business stationery using InDesign.

This free letterhead tutorial and template makes a great foundation for creating your own unique design.

9. Advanced Typographic Layouts

One of the biggest advantages of InDesign over other design software is its unsurpassable functionality for formatting typography. You’ll find a huge range of advanced features for making your text look its very best, from optical margin alignment to drop caps.

This InDesign tutorial shows you how you can create both basic and advanced drop caps in InDesign, to give your paragraphs a stylish twist.

10. Resume Tutorial

In a competitive job market it pays to stand-out amongst the crowd. Creating a resume in InDesign is quick and easy, and allows you to be more experimental with column layouts, colour and typography.

If you’re not sure how to begin, working with an existing resume template is a good start. This free-to-download modern resume template is clean, stylish and easy to adapt with your own fonts and colors.

Don’t miss our other free InDesign tutorials for beginners.

The post InDesign Tutorials | 10 Things You Can Create With InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

It’s quick and easy to create pull quotes in InDesign once you know a few tips. In this bitesize tutorial we’ll look at two ways of creating pull quotes that are simple to do and look really effective.

Method #1: Wrap Text Around Your Pull Quote

If you want to add pull quotes over the top of existing paragraphs of text, applying a text wrap is an easy way of ensuring quotes and body text work seamlessly together.

Step 1

Use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame near to or over the top of the body text where you want the pull quote to appear.

Type in the quote, and use either the top Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character) to format the text. Here I’ve set the font to Cardo Italic.

Step 2

With the text frame selected go to Window > Text Wrap.

Choose Wrap around bounding box from the options at the top of the window, before adjusting the Offset values until the body text around the quote is pushed away equally from the edges of the text frame.

You may need to apply subtly different Offset values to create an evenly spaced look.

Step 3

If you want to create multiple pull quotes across columns sitting next to each other, you can ensure the baseline of the body text remains consistent by copying and pasting the pull quote frame, preserving the same text wrap settings.

Method #2: Adjust the Inset Spacing of Your Pull Quote

If you want to layer a pull quote over an image, you can give your text frame a color fill and adjust the inset spacing to create a seamless effect. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1

Use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame for your pull quote, and type up the quote.

Format the quote using the Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character). The font I’ve used here is Futura Extra Bold.

I’ve also used the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) to add a different Font Color to the quotation marks.

Step 2

Go to Window > Type & Tables > Story.

With the text frame selected check the Optical Margin Alignment box. This will shift outlying elements of text like quotation marks to the outside of the text frame, creating a tidier look for your quote.

Step 3

Use the Swatches panel to add a Fill Color to your text frame.

If, for example, you were creating a layout set on blank, white paper, you could set the Fill to [Paper] to match the background and create a seamless overlapping effect.

Step 4

With the text frame selected go to Object > Text Frame Options.

Adjust the Inset Spacing values so that the text frame has a generous margin around the outside. Make sure the Preview box is checked, to allow you to see how much spacing you are adding. This will frame the quote nicely, and create a more attractive final result. When you’re happy, click OK to exit the window.

And there we have it! Two quick and easy techniques for creating magazine pull quotes. Really simple, and really effective.

Eager to pick up more print design skills? Check out our magazine design tutorials, or download free magazine templates for InDesign.

The post How to Create Stylish Magazine Pull Quotes appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These book sizes are guaranteed to fit snugly on the bookstore’s shelf, and you’ll also find suggestions for choosing a suitable size for your chosen genre.

The Top 4 Most Popular Book Sizes in the US

Pocket Book: 4.25 in x 6.87 in

Best for: Low-cost paperback fiction

Pocket books are sized to do just that—fit nicely in a back pocket. This format is cheap to print and convenient to carry around, so it makes a great fit for cheap paperback fiction. You’ll see this size sold in newsagents and airports, as well as bookstores.

Digest: 5.5 in x 8.5 in

Best for: Paperback fiction and non-fiction

The Digest format is the smallest of what are termed ‘trade’ sizes in the States.

These are amongst the most widely circulated paperback sizes in the country, and suit both fiction and non-fiction titles.

US Trade: 6 in x 9 in

Best for: Paperback fiction

The more common of the trade sizes is US Trade, a slightly larger format often used for paperback fiction. This is a failsafe size to pick for fiction, and is the most common standard size offered by print-on-demand services for both self-published authors and publishing houses.

Hardcover: Ranges from 6 in x 9 in to 8.5 in x 11 in

Best for: Premium fiction and non-fiction

Hardcover (or hardback) sizes vary widely in the US, but generally the size of these books tends to fall somewhere between 6 x 9 in and 8.5 x 11 in.

Self-publishers tend to avoid hardcovers in favor of cheaper paperbacks, but with more POD sites offering hardcover print runs at increasingly better value, it’s starting to become more of a realistic option for self-published authors.

The Top 4 Most Popular Book Sizes in the UK

A-Format: 178 mm x 111 mm

Best for: Airport fiction

A-format books are dinky, and perfect for readers on the go. This format used to be the standard for airport fiction, but now you’ll also see it used widely for reprints of classic novels and niche fiction, like self-help or humour.

B-Format: 198 mm x 129 mm

Best for: Paperback fiction

B-Format books are probably the most widely circulated in the UK, being the industry standard for most paperback fiction. If you’re unsure about which size to choose for your book, B-Format is a pretty safe bet.

You’ll see this stocked widely across both physical and online bookstores, and most print-on-demand sites will feature the B-Format as one of their recommended sizes for self-publishers.

Demy: 216 mm x 135 mm

Best for: Large-format paperbacks

Larger paperbacks are being increasingly used in the UK in place of more expensive to produce hardbacks. The Demy format is commonly used for airport fiction these days, often replacing the more traditional and smaller A-format size.

If you’re looking to create a mass-market book, either in the self-help or fiction genres, a Demy size is a good option for attracting maximum attention on the shelf without the expense of printing a hardback.

Royal: 234 mm x 156 mm

Best for: Hardback novels

A Royal is a large-format size suited to novels and some non-fiction (such as high-volume biographies). Because Royals are larger than Demys, B-formats and A-formats, you’ll often see them in hardback (hardcover) format.

These are the books you’ll see showcased in the ‘New Hardback Fiction’ section of the bookstore, arranged so that the front covers face the browser. Being the largest of British fiction sizes, Royals aren’t the cheapest to produce, but they make a big visual impact.

Designing your own books doesn’t have to be scary. Get started on the right foot with more handy tutorials for self-publishing and book design here.

The post The Most Popular Standard Book Sizes in the US and UK appeared first on InDesignSkills.

From adding optical margin alignment to adjusting tracking, here you’ll find a handy set of guides for lifting your typography skills to a pro level.

1. Balance Classic Typefaces with Cutting Edge Fonts

Fonts are the building blocks of great typography, but with so many type styles vying for your attention it can be easy to neglect genuinely good fonts in favor of the newest fad.

Most pro designers will retain a deep respect and affection for classic fonts, often opting for Old-Style serifs like Garamond or geometric sans serifs like Futura over newer fonts. Why? These typefaces have enduring popularity for good reason—they’re attractive, legible, are often available in a wide variety of weights and styles, and have design traits which ensure they still look fresh and relevant on modern layouts.

If you want to make your typography look as professional as possible, try pairing an old-school font, like Baskerville or Avenir, with a new font. Our favorite source for free commercial fonts is FontSquirrel.

2. Increase Your T r a c k i n g

Tracking effects the letter-spacing across a whole word, phrase or paragraph of text. Reducing tracking often makes typography appear a bit too squashed (though try it if your font is already too generously spaced), but increasing it just slightly can have an instant prettifying effect on your type, making it appear more legible and attractive.

To edit tracking in InDesign, access the option from the top Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character). Try increasing the value to just 5 or 10 to see an instant difference.

3. Edit Your Typography’s Leading

Leading, which effects the spacing between lines of text, has a similar beautifying effect on typography as tracking. Increasing the leading from its default value allows long sections of text to ‘breathe’ and helps improve readability.

InDesign applies an automated leading value to text, which you can see underneath the Font Size menu in the Controls panel. Place your Type Tool (T) cursor in the paragraph or highlight the text, before increasing this value slightly.

4. Apply Optical Margin Alignment

Optical margin alignment is the pro typographer’s best kept secret. Applying margin alignment shifts small elements like serifs and apostrophes to the outside of the text frame, creating a tidier edge to a paragraph. It’s a really subtle trick which really works—try it and you won’t look back!

To apply margin alignment in InDesign, go to Window > Type & Tables > Story and check the Optical Margin Alignment box.

5. Establish a Hierarchy

This isn’t as frightening as it sounds. Establishing a hierarchy in your typography only means that you create an A, B, C order to your type. By making A your largest and boldest header, B your smaller subtitle and C your smallest body text, you can guide the reader’s eye comfortably across the layout. Establishing a hierarchy helps layouts to look less crowded and confusing, even if they contain a lot of text content.

Varying the size, weight (e.g. Bold, Italic) and switching between uppercase and lowercase characters all help to create a hierarchy on your designs. Pulling out sentences in pull-out quotes can also help to draw attention to key items of information.

It may seem obvious, but keep in mind that in English language layouts readers will naturally look to the top-left corner of the page as a starting point, so it often makes sense to place your A heading here.

New to print design? Start off on the right foot with this beginner’s introduction to preparing your artwork for print. Or discover more InDesign tutorials here.

The post 5 Typography Rules All Designers Should Know appeared first on InDesignSkills.

PDFs (Portable Document Formats) are one of the most commonly used file types for sharing your artwork with others. Here we’ll look at how to export your InDesign documents as both print-ready and web-ready PDFs.

How to Export Your InDesign Document as a PDF for Print

Whether you’re sending your artwork to a professional printer, local printshop or online to a POD (print on demand) site, it’s likely they will ask for your work to be submitted in PDF format. Here’s how to do it!

Step 1

First make sure you’re completely happy with your InDesign artwork. Perform a Preflight to check for any missing images or errors, and consider running a spellcheck or checking a printed proof before you export.

Step 2

File > Save your InDesign document, before going to File > Export.

In the Export window that opens, name your file (putting something like ‘to print’ in the title is a good idea) and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Save as type/Format drop-down menu.

Click Save.

In the Export to Adobe PDF window that opens choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu at the top.

Click on Marks and Bleeds in the window’s left-hand menu.

If you’re exporting artwork for print, it’s usual practice to include some printer’s marks on your PDF. While some printers won’t require registration marks or color bars, they may prefer it if you did include crop marks and/or bleed marks. Check your printer’s preferences before you export. To include all marks check All Printer’s Marks.

Most printers will also want you to include a bleed on your PDF, which extends the artwork past the edge of the page (trim edge).

To include a bleed in your artwork, check Use Document Bleed Settings to include a pre-defined bleed, or set the width manually.

Click Export to generate your press-ready PDF. Great job! You can send this straight off to the printers.

How to Export Your InDesign Document as a PDF for Online

PDFs are equally adaptable to viewing on digital devices, such as laptops, phones and eReaders. To optimise your artwork for viewing on a screen the export steps are a little different.

Step 1

Go to File > Export. Name the file and choose Adobe PDF (Interactive) from the Save as type/Format menu.

Click Save.

In the Export to Interactive PDF window that opens, select the range of pages you’d like to include. If you’ve created a document made up of facing spreads (such as a magazine), you may want to ensure the viewer sees these as Spreads, rather than individual Pages.

Under the Viewing options, you can define how the pages of the PDF are scaled on the screen. Choose Default for automatic sizing, or choose Fit Page to ensure the page fits to the screen size.

Under Presentation you can also choose Open in Full Screen Mode if you want the reader to have an immersive experience.

Click on Compression in the window’s left-hand menu. For viewing online, set the JPEG Quality to Medium and Resolution (ppi) to 72.

To add a secure login for your PDF, click on Security in the window’s left-hand menu. From here you can set a password to open the document, and/or to restrict printing and editing.

Then hit Export to create your PDF. If you’ve set a password you’ll be prompted to enter this when you export.

New to print design? Start off on the right foot with this beginner’s introduction to preparing your artwork for print. Or discover more InDesign tutorials here.

The post How to Export InDesign Documents as PDFs appeared first on InDesignSkills.

But there’s no need to splash out on expensive invites when you can create your own in InDesign, and have them printed cheaply through a POD (print-on-demand) site.

So save those precious wedding pennies, and follow this tutorial on how to create your own nature-inspired invitations.

What You’ll Need to Create Your Invite

To create the design pictured here you’ll need to download the following image and font files:

• Olive leaf wreath
• Sen font
• Cormorant font

As well as access to Adobe InDesign you’ll also need to have access to vector software like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape for editing the olive leaf graphics.

1. How to Set Up Your Invite Document in InDesign

Step 1

Open InDesign and click on Create New (or go to File > New > Document).

Click on Print at the top of the New Document window. Switch the Units to Inches, and set the Width of the page to 5 in and Height to 7 in.

Add a Bleed of 0.125 in, and click Create.

Step 2

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on the Layer 1 name. Rename it as Background and click OK.

Choose New Layer from the panel’s top-right drop-down menu. Name this layer Leaves and click OK. Create two more layers—first, Type Border, and, finally, Type at the top of the sequence.

Lock all layers except Background, which we’ll work on first.

Step 3

Expand the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s menu.

Choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s menu. Name the swatch Off-White, and with the Type set to Process and Mode to CMYK, set the levels below to C=4 M=3 Y=5 K=0. Then click Add and Done.

Create a second new swatch, naming it Peach and setting the levels to C=6 M=41 Y=37 K=0.

2. How to Build Up Color on Your Invite

Step 1

Working on the Background layer, take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag across the page, extending the shape up to the edge of the bleed on all sides.

From the Swatches panel set the Fill of the shape to Off-White.

Step 2

Lock the Background layer and unlock the Type Border layer.

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a second shape over the top of the first, also with an Off-White Fill.

Make this shape smaller, 3.5 in in Width and 4.5 in in Height, and position centrally on the page.

Step 3

With this smaller rectangle selected, go to Object > Effects > Drop Shadow.

Click on the colored square to the right of the Mode menu, and switch the Effect Color to Peach, before clicking OK.

Bring the Opacity of the shadow down to around 25%, increase the Size to 0.625 in and add about 10% Noise. Then click OK to exit the window.

Step 4

Create another rectangle shape over the top of this one, making it slightly smaller and leaving a small margin between the two.

From the Swatches panel set the Fill of this shape to [None] and the Stroke Color to Peach.

From the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke), increase the Weight of the shape’s edge to 2.25 pt.

3. How to Format Typography on Your Invite

Step 1

Lock the Type Border layer and unlock the top layer, Type.

Switch to the Type Tool (T) and drag across the border shapes, creating a text frame about a third of the way down.

Type in ‘Name 1’, and from either the top Controls panel or the Character and Paragraph panels (Window > Type & Tables > Character/Paragraph), set the Font to Sen, Size 19 pt, Tracking (letter-spacing) to 300, All Caps and Align Center.

Copy and Paste the text frame, to create a copy below, editing the text to read ‘Name 2’.

Step 2

Create another text frame between the two names, typing in an ampersand, ‘&’, and setting the Font to Cormorant Garamond, SemiBold Italic, Size 18 pt, Align Center.

From the Swatches panel adjust the Font Color to Peach.

Step 3

Create a text frame above the names, typing in intro text like ‘join us to celebrate / the union of’.

Set the Font to Cormorant Garamond Regular, Size 7 pt, Leading (line-spacing) to 15 pt, Tracking 300 and Align Center.

Copy and Paste the text frame a couple of times, positioning these below the names and editing the text to read the date, time and location of the event.

Set another text frame with ‘reception to follow’ at the bottom, set in Cormorant Garamond Italic, Size 8 pt, Tracking 200 and Align Center.

Step 4

You can divide up sections of information by setting a text frame between them and setting the Font to Cormorant Garamond Regular and Font Color to Peach.

Go to Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs. Set your Type Tool cursor in the text frame, and identify a bullet glyph from the list of glyphs in the panel. Double-click to insert it into the frame.

4. How to Add a Botanical Touch to Your Invite

Step 1

Open up the olive wreath vector illustration in Adobe Illustrator, or other vector software of your choice.

Isolate individual leaves and Copy and Paste them into new documents. File > Save As each as it’s own Illustrator or EPS file, with a transparent background.

Step 2

Head back to your InDesign document.

Lock the Type layer and unlock the Leaves layer below. Create a small image frame using the Rectangle Frame Tool (F), over the top-right corner of the type border.

File > Place, choosing one of your individual leaf images and clicking Open. Allow it to fill the frame completely, and scale and rotate to allow it to frame the corner of the rectangle shape nicely.

Step 3

Repeat the process, creating more individual image frames over both the top-right and bottom-left corners of the type border, and placing individual leaf images into each.

5. How to Export Your Finished Invite for Printing

Step 1

Go to File > Export, and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format menu at the bottom of the Export window. Name the file and hit Save.

In the Export Adobe PDF window that opens, choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu at the top.

Step 2

Click on Marks and Bleeds in the window’s left-hand menu.

Some print services will prefer you to either include printer’s marks and a bleed, or only to include the bleed, so make sure to check your printer’s preferences beforehand.

Here, I’ve checked both All Printer’s Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings

Click Export to create your print-ready file.

And you’re done! Great job! You can send this PDF file straight off for printing.

Free template version of this tutorial coming very soon…

Hungry for more InDesign tips and tutorials? Click this way.

The post How to Create a Botanical Wedding Invite in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’ll look at what widows and orphans are, and share some quick and easy tips for banishing them from your typesetting.

What is a widow?

A widow is a lone word or short group of words that appears at the bottom of a paragraph, column or page.

They tend to make long sections of text look unbalanced and messy, as well as leaving too much excess white space at the end of a page.

What is an orphan?

An orphan is a similar unwanted straggler, but this describes words that appear at the top of a page.

Orphans really belong on the previous page, as not only do they look untidy on the page they appear, but they also break the flow of reading across two pages.

OK, got it. Now how do I get rid of them?

There are three quick and easy solutions to banishing both widows and orphans, leaving your typography beautiful and neat.

The directions below are descibed for InDesign users, but you can observe the same general processes whichever design software you’re using.

Solution #1: Slightly extend the edge of your text frame

It’s amazing how even extending the side of your text frame just a millimeter or two can tidy up those widows and orphans, and it’s barely noticeable that the frame is larger than others around it.

In InDesign, take the Selection Tool (V, Escape) and pull the right or left edge of your text frame slightly, extending it until the orphan or widow is pulled into the main body of the paragraph.

Solution #2: Apply optical margin alignment to your text

Optical margin alignment is a method of shifting small text elements like commas, apostrophes and serifs to sit outside the edge of the text frame. As well as being a great way of making your paragraphs look generally more symmetrical and attractive, it’s also a nifty way of helping to get widows and orphans in line.

In InDesign, go to Window > Type & Tables > Story.

With the text frame selected or your Type Tool (T) cursor set in the paragraph, check the Optical Margin Alignment box. You’ll notice a subtle shift across some of the text. If your widow or orphan is a short word this can be enough to make them toe the line.

Solution #3: Apply tracking or kerning to the text

Some designers would argue that reducing tracking (letter-spacing across a group of words or a paragraph) is the lazy solution to banishing widows and orphans, but in some situations it’s simply necessary.

If you’re dealing with only a tiny word that is stubbornly resistant, reducing kerning (letter-spacing between individual letters) slightly between either some of the letters of the word, the preceeding word or in the space between the two final words of the paragraph is a more elegant solution.

In InDesign, use the Type Tool (T) to highlight the whole paragraph, the final sentence or the final few words of the paragraph. From either the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character), reduce the Tracking (symbolised by a VA on top of an arrow) to -5 initially. Reduce the Tracking further to -10 etc, until you’re happy with the result.

To adjust Kerning, place your type cursor between the two letters you’d like to draw slightly together, then look for the V/A symbol in the Controls or Character panel. Adjust to -5, and repeat between other letters until the widow or orphan is pulled onto the previous line.

Looking for more quick typography tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into an InDesign pro in no time.

The post What are Widows and Orphans? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’ll look at some quick and effective tips for fixing overset text, making your documents error-free in no time.

1. I have an error, is it overset text?

The problem: “I have a red ‘error’ flagged up; but how do I know it’s overset text?”
The solution: Identify the root cause in the Preflight panel

You may have noticed a small red circle at the bottom-left of the InDesign workspace, next to ‘x errors’ text. When you go to File > Export an InDesign document, InDesign will also alert you at this point if there are any errors in your document that require attention before exporting.

Errors come in various forms—from missing font files to missing image links—but one of the most common errors you will come across is overset text.

Usually, this is because you’ve been happily occupied tweaking font sizes and leading, without realising that a couple of lines of text have slipped beyond the edge of the final text frame. In more extreme cases, you could have pages of unwanted overset text brought in from a placed Word file, or simply a case of Edit > Paste clicked one too many times.

But there’s no need for tears. Overset text is easy to fix. It all starts with identifying it as the problem in the first place.

Click on the red ‘error’ circle at the bottom of the workspace to open the Preflight panel (or go to Window > Output > Preflight).

In the panel that opens, you’ll be able to see areas of errors capitalised, in the case of overset text this will be ‘TEXT’. Click on the arrow symbol to the left of ‘TEXT’ to expand the error.

Expanding each ‘Overset text’ in turn will reveal the source of the error, i.e. ‘Text Frame’, with a page reference highlighted in blue to the right.

Click on the page number to bring up the culprit on screen.

Now we’ve located the overset text, you can fix it quickly and easily. Read on to find out how…

2. How to find the overset text

The problem: “I can’t see the overset text!”
The solution: View ‘invisible’ overset text

Sometimes it’s difficult to know whether you’re dealing with a single paragraph of overset text or several pages.

To make the overset text visible, place your cursor in the text frame and go to Edit > Edit in Story Editor.

And voila! All the overset text is marked by a red line.

From here, you can edit the overset text, highlight it, Copy or Cut it, or Delete it.

3. How to fix overset text

The problem: “I can’t get rid of all this excess text”
The solution: Ctrl+Shift+End

Manually highlighting text in the Story Editor and deleting it from here is a good solution for removing small amounts of overset text. But what if you’re dealing with pages upon pages of unwanted text?

This is where a simple keyboard shortcut comes in handy. First, place your text cursor at the end of the text you want to keep. Then:

(Windows) Ctrl + Shift + End to select all overset text, then hit Delete to remove it

(Mac) Cmd + Shift + fn + Right-arrow to select all overset text, then hit Delete to remove it

Problem sorted! Now you can get on with exporting your document, and generally get on with your day.

Want more InDesign quick tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into an InDesign pro in no time.

The post Quick Tip: How to Fix Overset Text in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Baseline grids are super simple to use and instantly make layouts look ultra-professional. Let’s look at how to activate them and snap text to the grid lines.

Why Do I Need to Use a Baseline Grid?

A baseline grid is a grid of horizontal lines that are evenly spaced across your document. Without the grid visible it can be tricky to make your text perfectly aline across your document.

A baseline grid is particularly handy for multi-column or spread-based layouts, like magazines, flyers or EPUBs, where you have multiple text frames lined up next to each other. Overall, it promotes a more uniform, professional look across your InDesign documents, so it’s well worth doing.

How to View the Baseline Grid in InDesign

Before making the baseline grid visible you can edit its settings by going to Edit > Preferences > Grids (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > Grids (Mac).

From here, you can adjust where the grid starts on the page (from the Relative To menu you can select whether you’d like the grid to start from the top of the page or the top margin), and how far apart you want the lines to be spaced (measured in pt; you can set this to match your desired Leading setting).

With your preferences defined, go to View > Grids & Guides > Show Baseline Grid.

The grid will now be visible on all pages of your document. If it doesn’t appear initially, you may need to zoom into the page to make it visible.

How to Snap Text to the Baseline Grid in InDesign

Open up the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph).

To snap text to the grid either place your Type Tool (T) cursor into one of the text frames or highlight all the text you’d like to apply the action to.

Then click on the Align to Baseline Grid button at the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph panel. All the lines of text will snap into place, aligning perfectly with each other.

If you save your formatted text as a Style (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles), the same baseline grid alignment settings will apply to all text you go on to apply that style to. This is really useful if your document is very long.

Want more InDesign quick tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into an InDesign pro in no time.

The post Quick Tip: How to Use Baseline Grids in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

But how to get started? Here we look at eight quick-start tips for beginning a new career in graphic design. You’ll also find our edit of the best beginner tutorials and sources of inspiration to get you started on the right footing.

1. Start With the Basics

To become a graphic designer you need to know how to use computers to create layouts for both print and online. However, it can be difficult to know which software to invest in, given that there are tons of options available.

Although there are some good free alternatives available, most professional designers will use Adobe software. The core trio is Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

InDesign is a publishing program, tailored for creating layouts and multi-page documents, such as posters, magazines and flyers. Designers use Photoshop to edit photos or largely raster image-based layouts. Illustrator is used to create vector graphics, such as illustrations and logos.

You can learn more about the difference between design programs, and how to make the best choice for your own needs here.

You’ll find that designers’ preferences for software vary, but generally each designer has their own favorite program which they use on a daily basis. For most print designers, this will be InDesign, which is perfectly suited for print work. Digital designers might also use InDesign, but they may prefer the arguably more digital-friendly capabilities of Photoshop or Illustrator.

The interfaces of InDesign and other design-specialist software can seem a little intimidating at first, but once you know a little more about the basics—such as tools and panels—it’s easy to get the ball running.

Learn how to get started with InDesign here.

Still not sure where to make a start?

Make sure to check out these InDesign beginner’s tutorials to get a flavor of the software. 

2. Fall in Love With Typography

Typography, which describes how type is formatted and arranged on a layout, is an essential building block of graphic design. Every designer has their own fondness for typography, which in some runs to obsession.

With a little know-how, it won’t be long before you too develop a deep and meaningful attachment to all things type. Once you start animatedly telling your friends what the difference between a sans serif and a serif is, you know you’ve been bitten by the bug.

Get started with this helpful guide to formatting type in InDesign, which covers all the basics.

When you’re ready to dive in a little deeper, you can find a range of typography-centric tips and tutorials here.

Soon, you’ll want to develop your typography skills further with more specific training, like this tutorial on how to create simple and more complex drop caps.

3. Become a Master of Working With Images

Images bring an immersive quality to your designs, and can provide inspiration for the typefaces and colors you want to use on your layout.

To get started with using images in your designs, you need to know how to make them work for you. You can edit images using Photoshop but you don’t need to be a Photoshop whizz to get started with using images in your designs. You can place, size and rotate images within InDesign directly, allowing you to use photos in your layouts instantly.

Here you’ll find a beginner’s guide to using images in your InDesign layouts.

Some kinds of layout really allow you to make photography a key part of your design. Magazines are a great place to start honing your image layout skills.

Check out this trio of tutorials on how to incorporate photos into magazine spreads in new and interesting ways.

Vector graphics also play a significant role in graphic design. Vector illustrations can take the place of photos, and vector graphics, like logos and shapes, can bring scalable impact to your designs.

Dip a toe into vector with this introduction to creating shapes and illustrations in InDesign.

4. Understand Color

Type, graphics and color make up the holy trinity of graphic design. You can use these three elements as a foundation for creating any layout.

Color defines the mood and personality of a layout. It’s important to not only develop a good understanding of how colors complement or clash with one another, but also how to set up color on your designs at a technical level too.

This beginner’s guide to color spells out the difference between RGB and CMYK color, as well as advice for using Spot and Pantone colors.

Adobe’s handy Adobe Color CC app allows you to experiment with color combinations and create unique palettes from photos, which you can use directly in InDesign.

5. Learn How to Prepare for Print…

Even if you’re set on digital design, it’s important to have a solid foundation of print design skills. Why? Understanding print design basics will teach you key techniques you can carry forward into digital work, such as how to craft beautiful layouts and how to work with grids.

If you ever want to be able to create print work, such as stationery, signage or publications, it’s essential that you take a little time to read about how to prepare documents correctly for print, such as including bleeds and setting up color spaces correctly.

This indispensable guide shows you how to prepare your designs for print faultlessly every time.

6. …and For Online, Too

Print and digital design share common traits, but generally designers choose to specialise in one or the other. Where print design is in some ways very traditional (which is both its charm and its curse), digital design is ever-changing and exciting.

If you want to dip a toe into the world of digital, learning how to create simple designs for online use is a good place to start.

Learn how to create your own eBooks and eMagazines with this EPUB tutorial.

Or source digital inspiration from our edit of the best email marketing examples.

7. Become a Specialist in one area

Most designers get a sense of whether their strengths and interests lie more with print or digital design, but within these broader disciplines you can also choose to specialise further.

Within print design, for example, you will find designers who focus on branding, book design or typography.

Get started with book design, with this tutorial on how to create a book cover.

Within the expanding field of digital, many designers choose to specialise in app, website, EPUB or UX design.

8. Keep Inspired!

No graphic designer can flourish in a vacuum, and seeking inspiration by looking at the work of others is an incredibly important part of your development as a designer.

Keep your motivation up and your creative juices flowing by looking at our round-up of the best design inspiration.

Balancing trend-driven design with your own style is the key to creating designs that feel fresh and unique.

Make sure to keep abreast of the latest trends across the graphic design world by clicking here.

De 36 frågorna packaging by Martin Ohlsson

The post The Quick-Start Guide to Graphic Design appeared first on InDesignSkills.

While they may look elaborate, these text effects don’t take long to put together using Adobe InDesign. This method also keeps the text editable, so you can quickly and easily change the letter while preserving colors and effects.

Ready to get started? Let’s dive in…

What You’ll Need to Create Your Decorative Letter

All you need is access to Adobe InDesign and a font of your choice.

Serif fonts with a more traditional style tend to work best with this vintage-inspired look. For the lettering designs pictured here, I’ve used Didot (Bold) and Mr Darcy (Regular).

Here’s what we’ll be creating*.

*You can adapt the design to a letter of your choice; simply follow the same steps below, tweaking details to suit your letter choice.

Step 1

Open up InDesign and go to File > New > Document.

Create a new document to any size you prefer. Here, I’ll be working on an A3 single page. Click OK to create your document.

Step 2

Begin by using the Type Tool (T) to create a large text frame in the center of the page.

Type in your letter, here ‘C’, and set the Font to your chosen style (here, Didot Bold) from either the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).

Make sure the Font Size is generous, here I’ve increased it to 600 pt*.

*If you want to incorporate your letter into another design, you can later vectorize your letter by going to Type > Create Outlines, and scale the whole design more easily.

Step 3

You’ll need a palette of four color swatches to create your decorative letter. For this particular design, I’m going to use four of the default colors already provided in the Swatches panel.

But if you’d like to use different colors for your design, you can create new swatches by selecting New Color Swatch from the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches).

Step 4

Select the letter by highlighting it with your Type Tool cursor, or use the Selection Tool (V, Escape) to select the text frame. Head up to Object > Effects Inner Glow. This will add an inner color to your letter.

Click on the colored square to the right of the mode menu at the top of the window that opens. From here, you can choose one of your color swatches to apply to the glow. Here I’ve gone for red.

Back in the Effects window, under the Options section below, set the Technique to Precise, Source to Center, Choke to 100% and Noise to 20%. You can tweak the Size of the glow depending on the size of your text.

Step 5

Click on the Drop Shadow option at the top of the Effects window’s left-hand menu. This will add a colored shadow to the outside of your letter.

Choose a contrasting color for the Effect Color. Here I’ve gone for cyan.

Tweak the Distance, Angle and Size until you’re happy with the position of the shadow. Increase the Spread to 100% and add about 10% Noise.

Step 6

Click on Outer Glow in the Effects window menu. This will add a highlight shadow to the outside of your letter.

Adjust the Mode to Normal, and you can either keep the Effect Color set to the default [Paper] (white) swatch, or choose a different contrasting swatch.

Add about 20% Noise and increase the Spread to 100%, before clicking OK to exit the window.

Step 7

You can add extra decorative elements to your letter by using the drawing tools in InDesign’s Tools panel, which is docked to the left-hand side of the workspace.

Use the Pen Tool (P) to create curved elements, holding down your cursor to create curved lines, and allowing the shape of the letter to guide the design.

To tweak the shape of your drawing, use the Smooth Tool to smooth out kinks, and the Direct Selection Tool (A) to directly select anchor points and adjust their position.

Step 8

You can combine shapes to create decorative elements. Here, I’ve used the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw a circle over the top of the letter, meeting the curved line I’ve already created, creating a simple tear shape where the two shapes meet.

Use the Scissors Tool (C) to cut away unwanted parts of shapes…

…and go to Object > Paths > Join to unite shapes.

Step 9

Give your shape a contrasting Fill Color (here, cyan) from the Swatches panel.

Go to Object > Effects > Inner Glow to add an inner color to the shape. As before, set the Choke to 100%, and Source to Center. Tweak the other options until you’re happy with the effect.

Step 10

You can Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste shapes and flip or rotate them by Right-Clicking > Transform.

You can also use the Ellipse Tool (L) to create quick and easy polka dot decorations for your design.

Step 11

Your decorative letter is finished! Great job!

You can easily change the letter and preserve the colors and effects by typing in a different letter into the text frame. All you have to do is adjust the decorative elements on top to complete the effect.

Here are a few other letter designs I created using the same technique.

This ‘S’ uses a bold color combination of cream, mustard, pink and green. The Font used is Mr Darcy Regular. I’ve used the Pen Tool (P) to create arrow embellishments, and the Ellipse Tool (L) to create a polka dot effect.

This ‘E’ is set in Didot, with a color palette of cream, orange, pink and white. I created the inner stripe on the design using the Rectangle Tool (M).

Next in this series

Looking for more typography tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into a typography pro in no time.

The post Quick and Easy Decorative Lettering in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

What is Kerning?

Kerning is the process of increasing or decreasing the space between individual characters, adjusting the position of letters in relation to others. It’s commonly used on prominent pieces of text, such as headlines and logos. Note that tracking, on the other hand, is used to adjust the letter-spacing uniformly over a range of characters (read more about tracking).

Why Do Designers Use Kerning?

Although the process of tweaking kerning may be very subtle, it can have significant effects on the legibility and overall presentation of text.

Designers kern letters to improve the overall symmetry of a word or phrase, which the default tracking settings provided in the font file may not be able to achieve alone.

As well as having an instant beautifying effect on text, kerning can also have an effect on the readability of the text. When done well, words just read better.

However, a note of caution! There are many infamous examples on the web of kerning gone wrong, when poorly kerned letters have formed unintended or, in some cases, downright rude, words.

How Do I Apply Kerning?

In InDesign, you can adjust kerning from either the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).

Select the Type Tool (T), click your cursor to the left or right side of a letter, and increase or decrease the kerning (which is measured in thousandths of an em) by choosing from the default options (which jumps in sequences of 5’s, 10’s, 25’s and 100’s) or typing in a number.

Pro Tips

Observe these top tips whenever you kern to keep your text looking as professional as possible.

• Certain letters require more kerning attention than others. Slanted letters like W, V, K and A tend to sit too far away from other letters when kept to their default spacing. Letters with arms or large serifs, such as T, L and K may suffer from the opposite problem, tending to sit too close to other letters, creating an overcrowded effect. So make sure to comb your designs for these problem letters.
• Flipping your text upside down (or click on a page in the Pages panel, and Right-Click > Page Attributes > Rotate Spread View > 180°) before you kern is an age-old tip beloved of typographers. This allows you to asses the spacing between letters on a purely visual level, without being distracted by the meaning of the word. It’s an eccentric tip that works surprisingly well.

Want more typography tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into a typography pro in no time.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Kerning appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’re going to find out more about letter-spacing or Tracking, including what it is and how you can adjust letter-spacing to improve your own design work.

What is letter-spacing / Tracking?

Tracking is the typographer’s term for letter-spacing. Sometimes confused with kerning (which is used to adjust spacing between individual letters), tracking adjusts the letter-spacing uniformly over a range of characters.

Tracking affects the visual density of a word, phrase or paragraph. Decreasing the tracking makes the words appear more compact, while increasing tracking increases the amount of white space between letters and words, creating a more airy effect.

Why Do Designers Use Tracking?

Designers apply tracking for two main reasons:

• Firstly, when tracking is increased it can improve the readability of text. Letters and words are more visually distinguished from each other, allowing the eye to process them more easily than if characters were pushed closely together.
• Many designers apply tracking to improve the look of typeset text. Increasing or decreasing tracking has the power to reduce the amount of hyphenation in a paragraph, and banish widows (lone words at the end of a paragraph) and orphans (lone words at the top of a page, which should belong on the previous page).

In the second image the tracking has been reduced. This pushes all the letters closer together, causing the same number of words to fit onto less lines (which removes the widow ‘eat’).

How Do I Apply Tracking?

In InDesign, you can adjust kerning from either the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).

Use your Type Tool (T) cursor to either highlight the text or use the Selection Tool (V, Escape) to select the whole text frame*.

The tracking option is indicated by an ‘A V’ symbol with an arrow sitting below, and is found alongside the other most commonly used text formatting options in the Controls or Character panel. Measured in thousandths of an em, you can either choose a positive (to increase the spacing) or negative (to decrease) value from the drop-down menu, or type in a numeric value in the text box.

*For a linked sequence of text frames selecting the first text frame will apply the tracking settings to the text flowing across all the frames.

Pro Tips

Tracking may be simple to do, but professional designers still have a few tricks up their sleeve for making the most of this type technique.

• Tracking may be a quick-fix for line-spacing, but combining tracking with kerning will really lift your typography to a professional standard. As tracking affects the spacing between all characters, it won’t take into account specific spacing requirements between particular letters. So make sure to combine these two techniques for maximum effect.
• Tracking goes hand-in-hand with leading, which is the space between lines of text. Generous tracking requires generous leading; otherwise you may end up with paragraphs that appear stretched horizontally and look disproportionate.
• Sometimes it just doesn’t look right to apply negative tracking to your text, which can make paragraphs appear squashed. If this is the case but you still have widows or orphans ruining the look of your typesetting, apply optical margin alignment to try to shift outlying elements, like serifs and apostrophes, to the outside of your text frames, giving yourself a little more breathing room. Go to Window > Type & Tables > Story and check Optical Margin Alignment.

Want more typography tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into a typography pro in no time.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Tracking appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’re going to find out more about leading (or line spacing), including what it is and how you can apply it in your own design work.

What is Leading?

The definition of leading is: the distance between two baselines of lines of type. The word ‘leading’ originates from the strips of lead hand-typesetters used to use to space out lines of text evenly. The word leading has stuck, but essentially it’s a typographer’s term for line spacing.

Why Do Designers Use Leading?

Leading is one of the quickest and simplest tweaks you can do to make your text look instantly better.

If you’re working in design software like InDesign, the program will set a default leading value whenever you type up more than one line of text. However, this is not usually generous enough, and can make paragraphs look squashed. This works fine if you’re creating a crammed front page for a newspaper, but less well for most other purposes.

Increasing the leading allows the text to breathe and makes it appear instantly more attractive. For readers it has practical advantages too—increasing leading makes text easier to read, and it’s also kinder on reader’s eyes over longer periods of reading.

So if you’re designing a book or magazine layout, increasing your leading will ensure your audience is captive for longer.

How Do I Apply Leading?

When working in InDesign, once you’ve created a piece of text using the Type Tool (T), you can adjust the leading from either the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character). To edit the leading across a whole section of text, either highlight the text or click on the text frame to select it.

Leading is always positioned below or next to the Font Size option. Setting the leading to Auto will apply InDesign’s default leading for the font size you currently have applied. You should see this as a minimum value for your leading. Increasing the leading (which is measured in points, pt) will increase the line-spacing across your paragraph.

To apply a particular leading value to just one line of text (e.g. if you want to separate a paragraph visually from a heading positioned above), highlight the line you want to shift downwards and increase the leading.

Pro Tips

Leading may seem straightforward enough but designers have all sorts of tricks and tips for making the most of this simple type technique.

• While generous leading can improve the look of paragraphs, making the leading overly generous can disrupt the flow of the text and impact on legibility. Print out different leading settings before going to print, to make sure you can read the text comfortably.
• Setting text against a colored or dark background? Apply slightly more generous leading than normal to make the text ultra-clear to read.
• Different fonts will suit different leading settings, as the x-height (the height of lowercase letters) will vary between fonts. Fonts with shorter x-heights won’t require as much leading as those with taller lowercase letters.

Want more typography tips? These quick and simple tutorials will turn you into a typography pro in no time.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Leading appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to draw shapes and silhouettes in InDesign, and apply stylistic effects, like noise, shadows and gradients, to create a vintage-inspired, screen-printed effect.

Suitable for beginners, this is a handy little introduction to drawing with shapes in InDesign.

Why Draw in InDesign?

InDesign isn’t always the first software option that springs to mind for creating vector graphics, but it’s actually a fantastic choice if you’re looking to create quick illustrations to incorporate into other InDesign layouts, such as flyers, magazines or posters.

InDesign brings together the best of both worlds for illustration—a set of vector drawing tools you would normally find in Illustrator as well as the advanced effects you would usually only be able to apply in Photoshop.

Geometric shapes, simple silhouettes, logo designs and patterns are all easily achievable with the tools available to you in InDesign. You’ll also end up with a vector (not raster) graphic, which means you can scale your design as you wish without compromising on quality.

Here, we’ll work towards creating this winter tree illustration, to demonstrate a range of handy drawing techniques. You can apply the same techniques and principles to your own designs—the only limitation is your imagination!

Ready to get drawing? Awesome, let’s go!

1. How to Draw a Shape

Step 1

Open up InDesign and go to File > New > Document, creating a document at any size you wish. If you’re creating your illustration for print media (e.g. flyers, stationery etc) set the Intent to Print. Want to create a design for social media or attaching to an email? Choose Web instead.

With the document created, you’ll need to get familiar with the Tools panel to create your illustration. This is docked over on the left side of the workspace (or go to Window > Tools).

Even if you’re not using a graphics tablet, using the Pen Tool (P) to create shapes on the page will give you a high level of control. Click onto the page and move around to create your shape, before connecting the silhouette at the first anchor point.

Step 2

You can switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select individual anchor points and tweak their position.

Once you’ve clicked onto an anchor point (it will switch to white once accurately selected), use your mouse or the arrow keys to shift the position of the anchor point, perfecting your shape.

Step 3

For illustrations made up of separate lines (i.e. not a complete shape), it’s best to use the Line Tool (\).

Click onto the page once, then twice, to create a single line. To create a completely straight horizontal or vertical line hold down Shift while you drag.

Here I’ve created a single central branch for the tree using the Line Tool, before creating individual branches reaching from the trunk to the outer edge of the tree using the same tool.

I switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select individual anchor points and move them until I’m happy with their position.

2. How to Add Color and Effects

Step 1

Once you have your shape in place it’s time to get creative with color!

If you’re creating a simple logo or icon design you may want to use just one or two colors, but more complex illustrations might benefit from a palette of colors. To create a variety of color swatches to work with, go to the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s top-right drop-down menu. Play around with the CMYK (for print) or RGB (for web) percentage levels, before clicking Add and OK to add it to the Swatches panel.

Select the shape you’d like to apply the swatch to and set the Fill to your chosen swatch from the Swatches panel. For larger shapes it almost always looks best if you set the Stroke Color to [None].

Step 2

Now you’re ready to start applying effects to your illustration to bring in texture and depth.

If you have a group of elements you want to apply the same effect to you may find it easier to first Right-Click > Group them together, as I’ve done here with the branches of the tree.

Then head up to Object on the main menu bar running along the top of the workspace, and choose Effects and then select any option from that menu. Whichever option you click on will open the Effects window. From here you can apply all sorts of effects to your design, such as shadowing, gradients and glows.

Below you’ll find highlighted some of the effects which I think have the potential to bring out the best in your illustrations…

Drop Shadow

Adding a shadow to your graphics can give the design more depth and body.

Apply the effect subtly by adjusting the Effect Color from Black to be a closer match to the background color below (here, I’ve opted for a dark green to complement the tree foliage below). You can also bring down the Opacity and adjust the Distance, Size and Spread to make the shadow more subtle.

Step 3

Copying and pasting (Edit > Copy/Paste) certain elements on your design and shifting their position slightly can give your illustrations an authentic screen-printed or letterpress look. Here I’ve pasted a copy of the tree branches to create that effect.

In this design I’ve used the Pen Tool (P) to create individual sections of color across the tree.

Selecting each colored section I can also adjust the transparency settings by once again heading up to Object > Effects and choosing Transparency.

Transparency

Applying a Transparency effect to some or all of your illustration can really help the design to blend together and look more professional.

Choosing Normal from the Mode menu and reducing the Opacity will simply fade the element selected, allowing details from other elements sitting below to become more visible.

Applying an Overlay blending mode is a great way of preserving the impact and color of the element while still making elements below more visible.

Step 4

You can make vector graphics look more hand-drawn by adding grainy texture. The best way to do this is with the Inner Glow option in the Effects window.

Inner Glow

You can apply a glowy, light-up effect to the inside of your shapes by adding Inner Glow, but I tend to use this option for applying grainy noise instead.

To do this, adjust the Mode to Normal, and choose a color that is similar to, but not the same as, the color of the shape you are applying the effect to. Increase the Size and Choke to extend the effect across the whole shape, and then adjust the level of Noise until you are happy with the amount of grain.

Step 5

You can also make shapes appear as if they are glowing on the outside, which is a lovely effect for adding a lit-up effect to elements like stars, lightbulbs, suns or moons. Once you’ve created your shape (here, I’ve created a star shape using the Pen Tool), head up again to Object > Effects, and choose Outer Glow.

Outer Glow

With the Mode set to Screen, adjust the Size and Spread of the effect until you’re happy with the amount of glow around your shape. Adding a little Noise will soften the effect.

Conclusion: Illustrating Made Easy in InDesign

In this tutorial we’ve looked at a simple three-step process for creating illustrations in InDesign. Let’s take a quick recap:

• First, use the Pen Tool and shape tools (e.g. Line Tool) in the Tools panel to create simple shapes, lines and silhouettes.
• Next, create a range of color swatches in the Swatches panel and apply your palette to your drawing.
• Finally, style your illustration using the options available in InDesign’s Effects window, such as glows, shadows, noise and transparencies.

Hungry for more drawing tutorials? Check out this guide to creating arrow shapes in InDesign, or why not find inspiration for your next InDesign layouts here?

The post Drawing Shapes and Illustrations in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

This guide shows you five easy ways* to create a failsafe font combination every time, and suggest appropriate ways to use each font pairing style. Read on to find your font dream team…

* These five font pairings are based on using one font for the headline (the main title on your page) and another font for the body text (the longer paragraphs which make up the bulk of content on your page). If you want to add sub-headings or pull-out quotes setting text in an italic weight is always a wise move, or try using a bold or condensed version of your body text font to add contrast while keeping the typography looking polished.

1. Sans Serif Headline + Serif Body Text

This is the most common font pairing style designers will use when they want to make their typography look instantly more polished and professional. Why does this font pairing work so well? Firstly, the pairing has high contrast, which creates interest and stimulates the eye. Secondly, this pairing feels at once both classic and contemporary, which makes it suitable for all sorts of layouts. Finally, bookish serifs tend to be easy to read, while sans serifs add a more modern, sophisticated flourish, making it a pairing that’s both functional and stylish.

Within this font pairing style, you’ll find that certain sans serifs look better teamed with particular serifs. A good starting point is to decide on a headline sans serif that you really love, and then rotate the serif body text through several options until you find the font that looks just right.

One of our favourite font pairings is headlines set in Bebas Neue, with body text set in Caslon. A sub-heading set in Adobe Caslon Pro Italic adds the perfect finishing touch.

2. Headline + Body Text Fonts From the Same Font Family

Most fonts belong to a typeface family—a group of fonts which vary in weight (e.g. bold, italic, book etc) but ultimately have the same base design. A family may also include more stylised variations of the original roman weight, such as condensed, outlined and expanded.

Some font families contain as few as three fonts, while others might extend to include dozens of fonts. These larger font families are known as ‘superfamilies’.

Pairing two fonts taken from either the same family or superfamily is a quick route to creating a design that feels pulled-together and elegant. The success of this sort of pairing rests on the shared similarities between the chosen fonts, rather than contrast, which has a calming effect on the eye. For layouts which require a more traditional, formal or conservative style, this sort of font pairing is the perfect choice.

That’s not to say that sourcing two fonts from the same family needs to be dull. In fact the vast range of font styles you can track down within a superfamily can give you plenty of variation, to keep your design looking playful. We love the combination of a Roboto Slab headline with Roboto body text. These fonts have very different weights but share the same rounded-geometric form.

3. Headline + Body Text Fonts Which Share the Same Mood

All fonts have a personality, whether it’s the bouncy optimism of a rounded sans serif or the serious conservatism of a traditional serif. Each font brings its own personality to a design, helping to give the whole layout a certain mood or vibe.

Professional typographers call this evasive sense of mood that a group of fonts share a ‘sub-category’. Some serif fonts, such as Bembo and Garamond, fall into the Old Style sub-category, with these fonts tending to have an old-fashioned, dignified personality. These work well paired with Humanist sans serifs like Frutiger and Gill Sans, because these too have an old-fashioned, serious mood.

Here a Garamond headline and sub-heading makes a great team alongside Gill Sans body text.

Transitional serifs have a more modern mood than Old Style typefaces, which makes them a suitable pairing for Geometric or Rounded sans serifs, like Futura and Avenir. Here, a headline set in Mrs. Eaves is stylishly offset by Futura body text.

Modern serifs, such as Didot and Bodoni, have a classic elegance but feel more fun and fashionable than their Old Style relatives. Because they are more contemporary in style, they team best with Geometric sans serifs.

In this example, Bodoni and Open Sans make for an elegant font pairing.

4. Display Headline + Humanist or Transitional Body Text

You don’t always need to rely on blowing your headline up to large size to make an impact. Display or Headline fonts are specially designed to make text really shout for attention. These heavily stylised or chunky display fonts, such as FF Scala and Eczar, look fantastic paired with Humanist or Transitional body text, whether in serif or sans serif styles.

If you’re putting together a more design-forward layout which needs to grab a viewer’s attention, such as a poster or magazine cover, this font pairing won’t fail to turn heads, and it looks super-stylish too.

Here a headline set in Scala Sans Black is the perfect foil to the simple charms of Gentium Basic.

5. Round Sans Serif Headline + Old-Style Serif Body Text

Rounded fonts are youthful, and used alone give an almost childlike quality to a design. Pairing a rounded sans serif headline, like Woodford Bourne or Quicksand with more traditional serif body text exaggerates further the contrast that we looked at with the serif/sans serif font pairing at the start of the article.

This is a more space-age version of that pairing rule, giving layouts a futuristic spin that feels clean and cutting-edge. In this example the exaggerated tracking of Quicksand as the headline makes the ultimate contrast with neat and pulled-together Garamond.

Still feeling overwhelmed with the sheer choice of fonts on the web? Check out our pick of the best fonts for every purpose and budget.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Font Pairing appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here at InDesignSkills we’re all about making your life easier, while picking up some awesome new design skills along the way. Read on to find out how you can create a light-up neon text effect directly in InDesign in under 5 minutes.

How to Create a Neon Effect

Light-up neon type is fantastic for adding nighttime glamour or a moody 1980s feel to your designs. This sort of text effect would look great on a poster or event flyer, and it’s so easy to do!

Step 1

I’ve set up the effect pictured here on a landscape A3 page (go to File > New > Document), though of course feel free to adapt the page size to suit your own purposes.

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and rename Layer 1 as Background. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a shape that extends across the whole of the page.

For the text effect to have impact, you’ll need to give the rectangle a dark fill. Opt for [Black] in the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches), or to recreate the color used here, click on New Color Swatch in the panel’s drop-down menu. Double-click the new swatch to edit it, setting the CMYK values to C=85 M=76 Y=61 K=93.

Step 2

In the Swatches panel create a further two new swatches:

Dark Pink – C=10 M=100 Y=0 K=0

Pale Pink – C=5 M=12 Y=0 K=0

We’ll use these to layer up the dark and light tones of the neon effect. If you want the neon effect to be a different color, say blue, create two swatches in the same way, one dark blue, one pale blue.

Step 3

Head back to the Layers panel and lock the Background layer. Create a new layer above and name it Typography.

Take the Type Tool (T) and create a large text frame in the center of the page. Type in your text, and from either the Controls panel at the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character), choose your preferred Font. To create a more authentic neon sign effect, I’ve gone for a script font, Burtons Script.

From the Swatches panel, set the Font Color to Dark Pink. Once you’re happy with the size, position, font and color of the text, you’re ready to outline the text. Note that this means you won’t be able to adjust the formatting of the text, so Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste the text frame, moving the copy over to the pasteboard to preserve a copy of your text if you like.

Step 4

Select the original text frame and go to Type > Create Outlines, to vectorize the text.

Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste the vector, moving the copy over to the pasteboard. We’ll be using this a little later.

With the vector selected, go to Object > Effects > Outer Glow. Set the Mode to Screen, Opacity to about 20%, Noise to 3% and Spread to 70%. Click on the colored square to the right of the Mode menu to open the Effect Color window. Choose Dark Pink from your list of Swatches.

Click OK to exit the Effects window.

Step 5

Select the vector and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste in Place, layering it directly over the first vector.

Go to Object > Effects > Outer Glow and increase the Opacity to 80% and bring the Spread down to about 40%.

Step 6

You can now start to build up the lighter tones in your neon effect.

Head over to the pasteboard and select the vectorized version of the text you pasted over there back in Step 4. Select it and Edit > Copy it, moving the copy over onto the page and positioning it directly over the top of the other text vectors.

Adjust the Fill of this new vector to Pale Pink.

Then head up to Object > Effects > Transparency. Set the Mode to Screen and pull the Opacity down to 70%.

Click on Outer Glow in the window’s left-hand menu and set the Mode to Screen and Opacity to about 65%. Choose Pale Pink for the Effect Color.

Click on Drop Shadow at the top of the window’s menu and set the Mode to Multiply, Opacity to about 40% and the Effect Color to Dark Pink.

Add a final effect to this vector by clicking on Gradient Feather at the bottom of the window’s menu. Choose Radial for the Type, and then click OK to exit the Effects window.

Step 7

To make the neon effect really pop, we can add a final layer of light over the top of the text effect.

To do this go to Edit > Paste to drop another copy of the vectorized text onto the page. Position directly over the top of the other vectors, and adjust the Fill to Pale Pink.

Go to Object > Effects > Transparency, and set the Mode to Screen and Opacity to 50%.

Click on Outer Glow and choose Screen for the Mode and Pale Pink for the Effect Color. Reduce the Opacity to about 50%, and increase the Spread to 40%. Click OK to exit the window.

And you’re done! This cool neon text effect will really make your designs pop—why not try using it on a gig or club flyer for extra impact?

Want to pick up some new typography skills? Browse beginner tutorials to find simple tips and tricks to make your type designs look super professional.

The post Create a Neon Text Effect in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

You’ll find all of these beginner-friendly tools in the Tools panel, which is docked to the left-hand side of the InDesign workspace.

Image used throughout: Shutterstock

1. The Selection Tools

Top beginner tool number one – the Selection Tool (Shortcut: V, Escape), which is the tool activated by default when you first open up InDesign. You can find it at the very top of the Tools panel. Use this tool to, you guessed it, select things! This is your go-to tool for when you want to move or scale items. Grab text frames, image frames and shapes with this tool to move them elsewhere, or click and drag corners of objects to adjust size.

Top tip: Hold down Shift while using this tool to keep the proportions of an element fixed.

Next is the Direct Selection Tool (Shortcut: A), which is the white arrow sitting below the Selection Tool on the panel, is better suited to adjusting the position of individual points. I tend to use this when editing the anchor-points of shapes or vector elements. Click on the object with the Direct Selection Tool and you’ll notice that small white squares appear around the edges. Click again on one of these white squares to select the anchor-point directly, and drag or use the arrow keys on your keyboard to adjust.

2. The Type Tool

As a beginner to InDesign, you’ll want to get to grips with creating text. InDesign is a publishing program, and as a result is perfectly designed for creating pro-standard typography. The Type Tool (T) is your gateway tool to putting together your very own text-based designs. Select the Type Tool and drag onto the page to create a new text frame, or click into an existing text frame to activate editing. You can also transform any shape into a text frame by simply double-clicking your type cursor onto the shape.

You can also turn any shape or line into a text path by activating the Type on a Path Tool, which you can find inside the Type Tool’s drop-down menu.

Once you have the Type Tool selected InDesign will switch to the Character Formatting Controls panel at the top of the workspace, allowing you to adjust Font, Size, Leading, Tracking, Kerning and other typography settings. By clicking on the paragraph symbol below the ‘A’ at the far-left of the panel, you can also access the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel, which gives you access to options for formatting larger sections of text, including Hyphenation, Alignment and Indentation.

Get to grips with typography basics in InDesign in this quick tutorial.

3. The Frame Tools

The Frame Tools are all marked out by the ‘X’ across their symbol in the Tools panel. These tools are essential if you’re a beginner looking to create image-based designs. Frames are used to insert photos, illustrations or backgrounds into InDesign (which can be done using File > Place). The Rectangle Frame Tool (F) is the most commonly used frame creator, but you can also choose from an Ellipse Frame Tool and Polygon Frame Tool, both accessible from the Rectangle Tool’s drop-down menu.

Simply choose your tool, then click and drag onto the page to create an image frame. Hold down Shift while you drag to create a perfect square, circle or polygon.

Raster images in InDesign are always placed inside frames, allowing you to apply effects to either the containing frame or the image itself, or both. To select the image directly, double-click inside the frame. The edges of the image will be made visible and you can adjust position or scale if you wish. To apply effects to your image frame, head up to Object > Effects on the top menu.

Learn more about working with images in InDesign here.

4. The Shape Tools

Although vector software like Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape are perfectly tuned for designing vector illustrations, you can do a lot of vector work directly in InDesign too. The simplest way to create vector shapes is to use the Shape Tools. These can be found at the bottom of the second section of the Tools panel, just below the Frame Tools. As with the Frame Tools, you can choose from a Rectangle Tool (M), Ellipse Tool (L) or Polygon Tool. Click and drag onto the page to create a shape, holding Shift to create perfect proportions. You can also create simple lines using the Line Tool (\). Using Shift alongside the Line Tool creates perfectly straight horizontal or vertical lines.

Once your shape is created you can edit color using the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and adjust the width and style of the stroke of your shape using the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke).

As with image frames you can also apply effects like transparency, gradients and drop shadows using the Effects window (Object > Effects).

You can create more advanced vector designs by using the Drawing Tools, which make a great team alongside the Shape Tools. Use the Pen Tool (P) to create custom anchor-points or the Pencil Tool (N) to create more fluid designs. To have more control over these tools, a graphics tablet is always more helpful than a mouse. Our old friend the Direct Selection Tool (A) can be used to select and move individual anchor-points, so don’t worry if your drawing didn’t turn out quite as well as you hoped on the first go.

5. The Page Tool

Our final essential beginner tool is the Page Tool…it’s hands-down one of the most useful tools, and has been a lifesaver of mine many a time. Ever wanted to switch a document to landscape? Or quickly change an A3 page to Letter size? The Page Tool allows you to quickly change the orientation and/or size of pages. Select the Page Tool (Shift+P) and click onto the page you want to change.

The Controls panel at the top of the workspace will adjust, showing you options for size, orientation and how you would like the content on the page to be repositioned. I think one of the handiest options in InDesign must be the Scale option from the Liquid Page Rule menu. This allows you to keep the proportions of your content intact, and scales it up or down to suit the new page size. All elements, including images and text, will be resized to fit. When you’re short on time and somebody wants the document at a different size, this can save hours of work.

Discover more advice for InDesign beginners on our Tutorials page. Or why not seek out inspiration about typography, layout design and much, much more right here.

The post 5 Essential Tools for InDesign Beginners appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here at InDesignSkills we’re all about making your life easier, while picking up some awesome new design skills along the way. Read on to discover an incredible stone text effect you can create directly in InDesign in under 5 minutes.

How to Create an Engraved Stone Text Effect

Looking to channel Game of Thrones in your designs? This engraved stone effect brings drama and ancient appeal to text, making it a fantastic match for advertising and poster work.

Step 1

We’ll set up all of the effects here on a landscape A3 page (go to File > New > Document), though of course feel free to adapt the page size to suit your own purposes.

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and rename Layer 1 as Background. Use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create an image frame that extends across the whole of the page.

For this effect you’ll need to find a stone background image, preferably one that’s not too dark, to allow the shadows to stand out. Here I’ve used this grey stone background image from Shutterstock. Go to File > Place, choose your image, and click Open, allowing it to fill the whole image frame.

With the frame selected, go to Object > Effects > Gradient Feather. Set the Type to Radial and allow the gradient to extend from darker around the outside of the image to lighter at the center.

Step 2

Lock the Background layer and create a new layer above, renaming it Typography.

Use the Type Tool (T) to create a large text frame on the center of the page, and type in your text.

From either the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character) choose a Font for your text (here I’ve used Simplo Bold) and set the text in All Caps.

Step 3

Select the text frame and Edit > Copy it, preserving a copy on the pasteboard.

With the text frame selected go to Type > Create Outlines to convert the text to a vector format. Then go to File > Place, choose your stone background image as before and Open it, allowing it to fill the outlined text.

Step 4

Now you can start adding effects to your text, to add depth, shadow and highlights.

Select the vector text and go to Object > Effects > Transparency. Set the Mode to Multiply.

Then click on the Bevel and Emboss option in the window’s left-hand menu. Set the Style to Inner Bevel and Technique to Smooth. Play around with the Size, Depth, Angle and Shadow and Highlight Opacities until you’re happy with the effect.

To give the impression that light is being cast from above over the stone, you can add an Inner Shadow. Click on this option in the window’s menu. Adjust the options until you’re happy with the depth, direction and strength of the shadow.

Click OK to exit the Effects window.

Step 5

If you want to make your effect even more graphic and strong you can add stronger shadow effects at the top and bottom of the type.

To do this, Edit > Paste in Place your earlier text frame on top of the existing type effect.

Use the Eyedropper Tool (I) to pick up one of the darker shades from the surrounding background image. Double-click the picked-up color which is now visible at the bottom of the Tools panel. Click into one of the CMYK text boxes, and then choose Add CMYK Swatch. From the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) you can now apply the swatch to the text color.

Select the text frame and go to Object > Effects > Transparency. Set the Mode to Multiply.

Click on the Gradient Feather menu option, and apply a Linear gradient at a 90 degree angle, extending from darker at the top of the text, to lighter at the bottom.

Select the text frame and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste in Place. Go to Object > Effects > Gradient Feather and click on the Reverse Gradient button to the right side of the Gradient Stops slider.

And you’re done! This high-impact stone text effect has a cinematic feel—why not try using it on a poster for extra drama?

Want to give your typography skills a refresh? Head to the beginner tutorials page to find fun and simple tips and tricks to give your text the wow-factor.

The post Create an Engraved Stone Text Effect in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

How to Create and Format Vertical Text

Step 1.

I’ve prepared a single-page document in InDesign, set to a standard ‘Architectural D’ poster size, 610 mm (24 in) in Width and 914 mm (36 in) in Height, with a 5 mm Bleed around the edges of the page.I’ve also placed an image of a ballet dancer onto the page, and locked this layer, creating a new layer above from the Layers panel (Window > Layers). When creating your own vertical text effect, you may also want to edit this on its own layer, so you don’t mistakenly move around any other elements sitting below.

Image of a ballet dancer from Shutterstock

Step 2.

Once you have your page and layers prepared, you can get started with creating your vertical text effect.

From the Tools panel select the Line Tool (\) and, holding down Shift, drag your mouse down from top to bottom, creating a vertical line.

Step 3.

Select the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T), which you can find in the Type Tool’s drop-down menu in the Tools panel.

Click once onto the top of the line to convert the line into a text path. Now you can type in the text you want to appear vertical.

Using the Type Tool (T), you can highlight the text and apply formatting like font, size and color from the Character Formatting Controls panel (running along the top of the workspace) and the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches). The font used here is Charlevoix Pro.

You can also remove the automated black color of the line by selecting the line with the Selection Tool (V, Escape), and choosing [None] from the Swatches panel.

Step 4.

Open the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph), highlight the text with your type cursor and set the alignment to Justify All Lines. This will pull the text across to fill the full length of the line. You can adjust the height of the line by dragging the horizontal lines which appear at the top and bottom of the line when the Selection Tool is active.

Step 5.

To switch the text to a vertical orientation, head up to Type on the top menu and choose Type on a Path > Options.

Under Effect, choose Stair Step. From the Align options choose Center. Click OK to exit the window.

Step 6.

Now your text is aligned vertically you can tweak the formatting to suit your layout.

Here, I’ve adjusted the kerning between certain characters to reveal the dancer’s face on the poster and create a more interesting typographic effect. You can adjust this from the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).

I’ve also created a faded effect to the text by repeatedly copying and pasting the vertical text line, and reducing the opacity by going to Object > Effects > Transparency.

I also applied a gradient (Object > Effects > Gradient Feather) running at a 0 degrees angle to enhance the fade effect.

Building a complete layout around your vertical text effect can be really fun—try teaming vertical text with rotated type and standard left-to-right text to create contrast and interest. Alternatively, creating a layout solely with vertical text can look amazing, and is a technique that was often employed by the Swiss School, who were interested in the qualities vertical text brought to grid-based layouts.

Want to update your typography skills? Our beginner tutorials page is a great resource for fun and easy-to-follow typography tips and tricks.

The post How to Create Vertical Text in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to find out how to create a simple drop cap in InDesign, and how to take your designs to the next level with stunning scale, color and graphics…

1. How to Set Up a Simple Drop Cap

Step 1

With your InDesign document open, you should first prepare a text frame on your layout using the Type Tool (T). Fill the frame with the paragraph of text you would like to add a drop cap too.

Highlight with your type cursor the first letter of the paragraph, or simply place your cursor somewhere into the paragraph.

From either the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel running along the top of the workspace or from the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph), locate the Drop Cap Number of Lines option (indicated by an uppercase ‘A’ in the corner of a sequence of lines).

By clicking the arrows up or down, or by manually typing in a number, InDesign will set the drop cap to extend a specified number of lines, increasing the size of the character as it does.

You can also adjust the number of characters included in the drop cap by increasing the value of the Drop Cap One or More Characters, an option which you can find in the bottom-right corner of the Paragraph panel. This is perfect for when you want to pull out a whole word or phrase as part of your drop cap effect.

Step 2

A trio of simple tweaks will help you to get the most out of your drop cap and give it a professionally polished look:

First, go to Window > Type & Tables > Story, and check the Optical Margin Alignment box. This shifts any straggly serifs or apostrophes to outside of the text frame, giving the whole paragraph, including your drop cap, a cleaner appearance.

Is your drop cap crowding some of your paragraph text? Here, the tail of the ‘R’ is overlapping some of the body text. You can rectify this by placing your cursor between the drop cap letter and the first letter of the body text (here, between the ‘R’ and ‘o’ of ‘Romanticism’). Then, from either the Character Formatting Controls panel at the top of the screen or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character), increase the Kerning value, until the drop cap is separated sufficiently from the paragraph text.

Finally, you can shift the baseline of the drop cap to allow it to be more nicely framed by the surrounding body text. Highlight the drop cap with your type cursor, and then increase the Baseline Shift from the bottom-left option in the Character panel.

And there we have it! A simple, super professional drop cap which looks fantastic. Try pulling out the drop cap in a contrasting color using the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) to add even more drama to the effect.

2. How to Create an Advanced Drop Cap Effect

Step 1

You can give your paragraph’s text frame more of a creative look by creating a custom shape for the text to fill. You can create a range of shapes using the shape or drawing tools in InDesign, or use Adobe Illustrator to create something more unique.

Here I’ve used the Arc Tool and Line Segment Tool in Illustrator to create a curved rectangle shape.

I then Edit > Copy the shape, return to InDesign and Edit > Paste the vector shape directly onto the page.

Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) > Content > Text to transform any vector shape into a text frame.

Step 2

Fill your text frame with text, making sure to remove the first letter of the paragraph (so here, I type ‘omanticism’, dropping the first ‘R’).

Create a second square text frame using the Type Tool (T), and type your intended drop cap character into the text frame (here, ‘R’).

Enlarge the character to your preferred size, and move into position over the top-left corner of the body text frame.

Step 3

Highlight the drop cap letter, and then head up to Type > Create Outlines. The character will be vectorized.

Then, with the vector drop cap selected, go to Window > Text Wrap. Set the text wrap option to Wrap Around Object Shape and tweak the Offset values to push the text away a little from the very edge of the letter.

Step 4

If your letter has any completely or partially enclosed areas, like the round counter of the top of the ‘R’ or the gap left behind the sweeping tail of the bottom of the ‘R’ here, you will need to ensure the body text is pushed out of these areas. This will add to the overall look of the drop cap and improve the readability of the paragraph.

To do this, take the Ellipse Tool (L) and drag over the drop cap letter, roughly filling any gaps.

With the ellipse shape selected return to the Text Wrap window and set the option to Wrap Around Bounding Box.

Select the shape and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste if you need to push text out of any other gaps. Rescale and rotate the ellipse to fit the area best.

You might now need to move your drop cap letter (along with any ellipse shapes) up or down a little until the paragraph text flows around the shape evenly.

Step 5

Your advanced drop cap effect is basically finished, and if you choose to keep it set in a classic black color that can look very elegant.

However, you can also jazz up your drop cap with color by switching the Fill Color of the letter shape in the Swatches panel. This is a great way of making your drop cap the focal point of your layout.

Another creative technique is to fill your drop cap with an image, making it into an even more interesting feature of your design.

This is really quick and simple to do. Simply Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) on the letter shape, and choose Content > Graphic. InDesign will now treat the letter as an image frame.

Then go to File > Place and choose an image. Patterns and landscapes look lovely, but close-up portraits of models and still-life shots can also look really impactful. Once you’ve chosen your image, click Open.

And there we have it! Drop caps are a fantastic technique for adding elegance and creativity to your magazine, stationery and book layouts.

Whether you opt for a simple style using InDesign’s inbuilt Drop Cap function or create your own custom design you’ll find that drop caps really are the cherry on the cake of a professional typographic layout.

Want to update your typography skills? Our beginner tutorials page is a great resource for fun and easy-to-follow typography tips and tricks.

The post Creating Beautiful Drop Caps in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here you’ll learn how simple it is to create stylish arrows in a range of styles directly in InDesign.

1. Creating Arrows Using the Stroke Panel

The first step of creating an arrow is to create a stroke. Let’s take a look how…

Step 1

With the InDesign workspace open and a new document created go to the Tools panel and select the Line Tool (\).

To create a line at a perfect horizontal or vertical angle, hold down Shift, and drag your mouse onto the page from side to side or top to bottom. 

Step 2

Go to Window > Stroke to open the Stroke panel (if you have your workspace set to the default Essentials setting, you will find the Stroke panel docked on the right side of the workspace).

In this panel you can adjust the Weight of the stroke, making it thicker or slimmer. Step 3

From the Stroke panel’s drop-down menu you can select Show Options, which will expand the panel.

In the bottom section of the panel you’ll find options for styling the Start and End of your stroke. Click on the Start drop-down menu and you’ll see a range of arrowhead options for applying to the start point of your stroke. Here I’ve opted for SimpleWide.

Applying a different style to the End of your stroke can create a stylish look. Here I’ve opted for Circle to give the arrow a sort of retro, mid-century look.

You can also adjust the Type of your stroke, which adjusts the style of the stroke’s line between the arrowheads. Here, I’ve chosen Left Slant Hash and also increased the Weight of the stroke to create a chunkier, more graphic arrow style.

2. Editing Your Arrows Further

Now you have a basic arrow shape you can start to develop the arrow using color and effects.

Step 1

You can adjust the color of your arrow from the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches). Click on the Stroke (X) hollow square symbol at the top-left of the panel to adjust the color of the arrow (you won’t need to apply any Fill Color).

You can also have flexibility over the position of your arrow by using the Selection Tool (V, Escape) to move the arrow, or hover over one end to Rotate it. 

Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) to access other transform options, such as flipping the arrow vertical or horizontal, or rotating the arrow to precise degrees.Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste the arrow to build up designs, and team with typography set in text frames created using the Type Tool (T) to demonstrate data concepts.

Step 2

You can add more interesting effects to your arrows using the Effects panel (select the arrow, then go to Object > Effects). From here you can add a Drop Shadow.…..more specialist texture effects, like Satin, Bevel or Emboss……or create a graduated effect by applying a subtle Gradient Feather to the arrow.

Looking to refresh your InDesign skills? Our beginner tutorials page is a great resource for fun and easy-to-follow InDesign lessons.

The post InDesign Basics: Creating Arrows appeared first on InDesignSkills.

To explain how it works, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a Table of Contents for a short book.

1. Prepare Your Page Numbers

Before you begin putting together the table of contents, you need to make sure you’re happy with your page numbering. InDesign will use your page numbering information to make your table of contents, so it’s important to get it accurate.

You may have already introduced page numbers into your InDesign document by placing markers onto the Master pages. If not, and you don’t know where to start, make sure to check out this quick tutorial first.

The page markers will reflect the page number as listed in the Pages panel (Window > Pages), and not necessarily the page number you want it to be. So this is the first thing to address before you put together a table of contents.

Step 1

I’ve created a document in InDesign, made up of facing spreads, for the inside pages of The Great Gatsby.

My document has three chapters, with each new chapter page defined by a chapter heading, graphic and half-page text frame.

At the moment the first page of Chapter One is on page 7 of the document, which the marker has rendered as a ‘7’ on the page. I want to change this and make this page show up as page 1 of the document.

Expand the Pages panel (Window > Pages) and Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) on the page you would like the numbering section to start from, in my case Page 7. Then click on Numbering & Section Options.

Step 2

In the window that opens, select Start Page Numbering at: and type in 1. Under Style choose 1, 2, 3, 4… and then click OK.

A warning message will flag up, reminding you that by making this change you will have created a duplicate of pages 1-6 in your document. We can rectify that, so just click OK.

Step 3

In my book document, I have designed it so that no page numbers appear on the introductory pages of the book. This is quite common for novels, with numbered pages only beginning on the first page of the first chapter.

Irrespective of whether the page numbers are visible or not, to avoid duplicate page numbers in the document I can set these first few pages to have a different numbering system.

Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac) on Page 1 in the Pages panel > Numbering & Section Options.

Again, select Start Page Numbering at: and type in 1. Under Page Numbering, choose a different Style for the numbers—roman numerals are usually a good choice for introductory pages. Then click OK.

Now you have two separate numbered sections in your book. Once you have decided on all the numbering for your document (for example, you may also want to have a different numbering system for the final pages of the book, as part of an index or bibliography) you’re almost ready to create a table of contents.

2. Set the Style of Your Contents Title

There’s one more ‘prep’ stage before you create a Table of Contents and that’s to create a Style for the title of your contents list.

Step 1

You can do this either from the Paragraph Styles panel (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles) or from inside the Table of Contents function directly. Let’s do the latter, so we can take a look at the TOC window.

Go to Layout > Table of Contents.

In the Table of Contents window that opens you’ll notice a Title text box at the top-left of the window. This is where you can set the text for the title of your contents. A simple ‘Contents’ is pretty failsafe, but you might want to customise this to fit your own project, such as ‘In This Issue’ or ‘List of Entries’.

Step 2

To the right of this text box is a Style drop-down menu. From here you can either choose a pre-created Paragraph Style or create a New Paragraph Style. In this case let’s create a new Style.

I’m going to name it ‘Contents Style’ (or something like ‘Contents Title’ might also be a good fit), and set the Font to Aleo Light, Size 12 pt to match the formatting I’ve used for headers in my book design.

Clicking on Indents and Spacing in the left-hand menu allows me to tweak the Alignment of the Style to Center. Then I click OK.

Back in the Table of Contents window there is a Styles in Table of Contents section in the center. You can see that we can’t create a new Paragraph Style for the body of the Table of Contents directly in this window. We’ll need to create them first, then return to the TOC window to add them to the Include… list. So click OK for now.

3. Set the Style of the Body of Your Contents

Styles are one of the most useful functions in InDesign, but are often underused. Creating a Paragraph Style allows you to reproduce the exact formatting of your text elsewhere in your document, so it’s a great timesaver when you’re creating text-heavy documents like books.

We can create a new Paragraph Style for only the chapter headings in the book, and then tell InDesign to only use these styled items of text to create the contents list.

Step 1

Click to select the Chapter One heading text frame in the body of your document. Open the Paragraph Styles panel (Window > Styles > Paragraph Styles) and click on the Create New Style button at the bottom of the panel.

Step 2

Double-click on the new Paragraph Style 1 name in the Styles panel to open up the Options window. Rename the Style as something like ‘Contents Headers’ and click OK.

Step 3

Scroll through your document, clicking on each new chapter heading and then clicking on the ‘Contents Header’ Style to apply it.

If you’ve already formatted all your chapter headings in the same way this won’t affect the look of the text, but it will tell InDesign that all the chapter headers now have their own distinct style which sets it apart from other content in the document.

4. Create your Table of Contents (TOC)

Now that you have your numbering system and Styles in place, you’re ready to create your contents list.

Step 1

Go back to Layout > Table of Contents. As before, set the Title and title’s Style, choosing the original Style you created for this (e.g. ‘Contents Style’).

Then from the selection of Other Styles below, click on the new Style you just created, the ‘Contents Header’ Style.

Click the Add button in the center of the window to add it to the Include Paragraph Styles list.

By clicking the More Options button you can customise your TOC as you like, defining how the Page Numbers appear, how these are styled and whether there appears any symbol, such as dashes or dots, Between Entry and Number.

Explore the options, and customise as you like it, before clicking OK.

Step 2

A small text preview will appear next to your cursor, indicating that the cursor is loaded with the created table of contents and is ready to place.

Navigate to the page of the document where you would like the contents to be and click once onto the page to create the contents list in a new text frame.

Step 3

Now you can tweak the formatting of the contents if you like, using the Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph) to adjust alignment.

Or use the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character) to adjust the Font Size, Leading or Font Weight (e.g. Light, Bold) of the text.

Format the rest of your contents page as you would for the rest of your book, and there you have it! A simple, quick-to-create table that shows all the page numbers of your chapters accurately without needing to manually type them all up.

Delve deeper into book design with our selection of publishing tutorials and inspirational articles for book fonts and book cover designs.

The post How to Create a Table of Contents in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here we break down the basics of Masters, and share some tips on how to get the most from one of InDesign’s handiest features.

1. What is a Master Page?

The basic principle of a Master page is this:

Whatever you place onto the Master page will be visible on all the pages of your document that have the Master applied to them

You can edit the Master, and add elements to it that you want to appear across multiple pages, such as page numbers, running headers and borders. Masters are indispensable when creating multi-page documents like magazines, books, reports and brochures, allowing you to add design elements across a number of specified pages, creating a sense of consistency and professionalism in your document.

You can also create multiple Master pages, each with different design elements. A good example for when it would be appropriate to use multiple Master pages is when you’re designing a book that’s split into chapters. You might have one Master page for the opening page of a chapter, and another Master for the pages that sit within the chapter. You can also add different Masters for index pages and contents pages, which may require different page numbering systems or headers.

2. Where Do I Find the Master Pages?

When you create a new document in InDesign, the software automatically creates two new Master pages for the document, which are visible at the top of the Pages panel (Window > Pages).

One of these Masters is called, by default, the ‘A-Master’, and depending on whether you’ve set the document up with single pages or facing spreads, will be made up of one or two pages.

The A-Master is automatically applied to all the pages in your new document, which means that anything you put onto the A-Master will show up on all pages of your document.

The Master page above the A-Master in the Pages panel is, in fact, not really a Master. It’s called [None], and by dragging this down onto a page icon in the panel below you can wipe the page of any applied Master.

3. How Do I Edit a Master Page?

Masters are quick and simple to edit—simply double-click on one of the Master page icons in the Pages panel to bring it up on screen. You can now edit the Master as you would a normal page. Let’s walk through the steps of editing an A-Master for a magzine, and look at how to add simple features like page numbers, running headers and background color.

Step 1

In this document, I want to create a Master that will add a few consistent elements to the pages of articles in the magazine. To do this, I double-click on the A-Master icon in the Pages panel (Window > Pages). This is a two-page Master as the document has been set up with facing pages; clicking on either the left or right page of the Master will bring up the full spread on screen.

Step 2

Now you’re ready to start editing your Master!

Think about the elements that will remain consistent across a group of pages. You can only edit these elements on the Master, and they will all sit behind the page content, so try to focus on elements that make up the background and basic template of your page.

For the A-Master for this magazine I’m going to add background color, page numbers and running headers. First, I take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag onto the Master to create a rectangle that fills the entire left-hand page. Using the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) I give the shape a black color fill.

I Copy > Paste the rectangle and place the pasted shape on the right-hand page of the Master.

By keeping the color in separate shapes on each page I can apply only the left- or right-hand page to a spread in my magazine. If I was to extend a single shape across the whole of the spread, the color would be applied to both pages of a spread automatically.

Step 3

I can also add page numbers to my A-Master. To do this, I zoom into the bottom left-hand corner of the left page, and use the Type Tool (T) to create a text frame. Placing my type cursor into the frame, I head up to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. As this is the A-Master InDesign flags this up as an ‘A’ (this will adjust to the correct page number in the pages of my magazine).

I can format the page number using either the Character window (Window > Type & Tables > Character) or the Formatting Controls panel running along the top of the workspace.

Then I Copy > Paste the page number’s text frame and manouver it over onto the right-hand page of the Master. I switch the text to Align Right using the Paragraph window (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph).

Step 4

Using the Type Tool (T) I create a long text frame at the top of the right page, adjusting this to read the issue’s date, and then format the text to adjust the size, font and color. I rotate the frame 90° (Right-Click [Windows] or Ctrl-Click [Mac] > Transform > Rotate).

I Copy > Paste this text frame, moving it over to the top of the left page, and adjusting the text to read the magazine’s title. Then I rotate it 180°.

4. How Do I Apply a Master to Pages in my Document?

By clicking on one of the page icons in the lower part of the Pages panel I am taken back to my document. I can see that the pages have all been updated with the edits I made to the A-Master. This looks great on some of the article pages…

…but I don’t want to have this Master applied to all the pages. I then have two choices. I can either click and drag down the [None] Master page icon in the Pages panel, dropping it onto pages which I don’t want to have a Master.

Or I can create a new Master page to apply to different pages. For example, I might want to create a second Master which has the same page numbers and headers, but has a white background and black text instead.

To create a new Master you can go to the Pages panel’s drop-down menu and choose New Master.

This opens up a New Master dialogue box. From here you can set the specs for your new Master. If you want to create a new Master that contains all the elements of an existing Master and you simply want to build on this you can choose the appropriate Master from the Based on Master menu.

However, as here I want to create a Master with similar elements to the A-Master but I want to be able to edit them too, I can simply create a copy of the Master by selecting both pages of the A-Master (hold down Shift while you do this) and dragging it down onto the Create New Page icon at the bottom of the Pages panel.

From here I can edit this new B-Master, such as removing the colored background and editing the text to a black color.

To apply this B-Master to other pages in the document, I select either the left or right page of the B-Master in the Pages panel and drag and drop it onto the relevant pages.

5. Pro Tips for Using Masters

Master pages can be as simple or complex as you like. If you want your document to look extremely consistent, you can edit the Master to include elements that will help your whole document feel even more uniform. Here are just a few things you can do with Master pages that will help take your designs to the next level:

• You can add linked text frames to your Master. This is particularly handy for typesetting long, text-heavy documents like books. Place a series of linked text frames on the Master page, but don’t fill them with text. When you return to the document’s pages, you’ll be able to feed text into the Master’s text frames without needing to add new text frames to each new page.
• The elements sitting on your Master page don’t necessarily need to sit behind the content of your pages. By placing some or all of the elements on your Master page onto a separate, top layer in your document (Window > Layers) you can ensure that page numbers and headers will always sit on top of other content.
• You can create as many Master pages as you like. For long documents some designers will use a wide range of Masters, treating them as templates for specific sections of a book or magazine.
• You can delete Masters by selecting the Master and either Right-Clicking (Windows) or Ctrl-Clicking (Mac) > Delete, or dragging the Master down onto the trash can icon at the bottom right of the Pages panel. You will be prompted with a warning message if the Master is applied to pages in your document. If you go ahead with the deletion, InDesign will apply the [None] Master to the affected page(s).

Want free InDesign templates? Of course you do! Find a range of ready-to-edit templates for book covers, business cards and more.

Find more InDesign tutorials here, and make sure to check out our edit of the best design inspiration to keep your ideas flowing.

The post InDesign Basics: A Quick Guide to Master Pages appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Scroll through to discover our pick of the best serifs and sans serifs for your project. And the best part? All of them are free to download!

SERIFS 

Ahellya

Elegant and graphic, with a slightly Art Deco twist. Just look at those gorgeous numbers—perfect for making your phone number look more interesting and stylish. A fantastic choice for minimal, elegant business cards.

Atzur

Looking for a classic serif with a little edge? Atzur borrows from ancient humanist typefaces and 1960s type styles to create a distinctly modern serif.

Bitter ht

A little bit slab and chunky, this typeface will make your CV look punchy and masculine.

Gotu

Professional with a twist, this will look just as good on headers as it will in body text. Set in a Rich Black color swatch for maximum impact.

Kraskario

A very subtly contemporary serif, this has an uber-professional style that would suit more formal professional stationery. Architects, lawyers and high-end agencies, look this way.

Lemour Serif

Borrowing from classic serifs like Times New Roman and Caslon, this typeface has a beautifully legible style that’s extremely versatile. Choose if you’re looking for something more traditional than cutting-edge.

Lora

Some of the most versatile professional fonts will have a more conservative regular weight that prioritises legibility, and a more unique bold weight to bring interest to headers. Lora does just that, which makes it a perfect all-round candidate.

SANS SERIFS 

Aller

If you want to use a sans serif font on your business cards or resume, you have to find a type style that has a slightly formal edge. Anything too rounded, spaced out or novel will risk throwing your stationery into unprofessional territory. Strike the balance right and you can end up with professional designs that look ultra-modern and forward-thinking. Aller is a lovely pick, with just the right dosage of graphic formality and pleasing curves.

Jura

Jura really does blur the lines between serif and sans serif, but we think its modern, clean design just about nudges it into the sans serif category. If you’re looking for a traditional style that looks completely modern and minimal, this is the typeface to choose.

Lato

Borrowing from Greek and Roman type styles, this font is a more informal and accessible style for using on your resume. That curvy ‘a’ is so friendly, who could refuse you an interview?!

Proza Libre

A very contemporary take on classical type styles, Proza Libre has a calligraphic look that will look simply beautiful on business cards and letterheads.

Sen

Want to prioritise legibility and clarity over anything else? Sen is the perfect choice, and has a fresh and quirky style that’s brimming with personality.

Sofia Pro

Sofia Pro has been an InDesignSkills’ team favorite for a while now, due to its simple, legible beauty. We love the quirkiness of the dropped baseline of the numbers and the completely minimal style of both the lower- and uppercase characters.

Three

Looking for something a little more playful? This typeface is inspired by Saul Bass type styles and has a distinctly 1960s feel. The slightly stretched look of the characters gives the font a compressed design which will add a fun edge to business cards and CVs. Perfect for creative freelancers or informal design agencies.

Still on the hunt for the perfect font for your next project? Discover our pick of the best fonts for magazine design and the loveliest typefaces for book covers. Or get your next lightbulb moment as you browse thousands of inspiring design examples.

The post Beautiful Free Fonts for Business Cards & Resumés appeared first on InDesignSkills.

You can achieve the effect directly in Adobe InDesign—here we show you how!

1. The One-Image/Multi-Frames Effect

This effect is beloved by professional designers for adding interest and creativity to photos.

Once you know the basics of creating the effect, you can build up the design to create incredibly intricate collage effects.

First, let’s start out simple…

Step 1

Open up Adobe InDesign and create a New Document.

Set the Page Size to A3, Portrait orientation. Deselect Facing Pages. Keep everything else set to its default values and click OK.

Step 2

Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on the default Layer 1 name to open the Layer Options panel.

Rename the layer Guides and click OK.

Create a new layer so that it sits above Guides, and rename it Images. Lock the Images layer and stay on the Guides layer for now.

Step 3

You now need to choose a suitable photo for your design. Any high-resolution photo will do, but try and look for interesting details in the image—generally, portraits and close-up shots will work better for this effect than landscapes, which tend to lack strong detail.

I’ve gone for this image of a flamingo.

Take a look at the photo—is it more portrait or landscape, or even square? My photo is square, so I make a mental note of that, and head back to my InDesign document.

Take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag to create a shape that’s either roughly portrait or landscape to match your photo (it doesn’t need to match the exact dimensions or proportions). I hold down Shift to create mine, to create a perfect square shape.

Center the shape on the page.

Step 4

Now it’s time to think about the kind of shape effect you want to create. Let’s start here with a basic example, using squares to create a ‘windowpane’ effect.

Return to the Layers panel and lock the Guides layer. Unlock the Images layer above.

Take the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) and, holding Shift, drag onto the page to create a square, and sit it inside the a corner of the rectangle guide.

Go to File > Place, navigate to your chosen photo, and click Open.

Double-click inside the image frame to directly select the photo and, holding down Shift, resize the image until it matches the proportions of the guide shape.

Step 5

Select the image frame and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste.

Place the pasted frame somewhere inside the guide shape, like in the top-right corner as I’ve done here. You can either resize the image frame to meet the edge of the first image frame, choose to leave a little gap between the frames or even overlap.

Whatever you go for, the guide shape is your constant. So, double-click inside the pasted image frame to select the photo and pull it into the same position as the guide shape sitting below.

You’ll start to see that the images are beginning to look correct, gradually making up a whole image.

Step 6

Repeat the process of copying and pasting image frames, and resizing the pasted frame if needed…

…then grabbing the image inside the frame and adjusting its position so it sits within the guide shape.

Once you have filled the whole area of the guide shape with image frames, you should see your whole image has taken shape.

 2. Creating Advanced Designs

Step 1

Once you’ve experimented with the effect using simple shapes you can start to get more creative. Circular image frames are accessible from InDesign’s Tools panel (Ellipse Frame Tool), and look great when layered over each other in a venn diagram style.

To recreate this design, as before create a square shape on the Guides layer below.

Use the Ellipse Tool to create a circular image frame which has the diameter of one quarter of the guide shape. Place in the corner of the shape and File > Place.

Repeat the process described above, copying and pasting circular image frames until you’ve filled the area of the guide shape.

To add an overlapping effect to the circles, go to Object > Effects > Transparency and set the Mode to Multiply.

You can build up this collage effect to create designs that are simple and striking…

…or intricate and ornate. The only limitation is your imagination!

In this tutorial you’ve learned how to create a collage-style effect in Adobe InDesign using multiple frames to assemble a single image. Awesome work!

Want free InDesign templates? Of course you do! Find a range of ready-to-edit templates for book covers, business cards and more on our Templates page.

Head over to our Inspiration page to browse stunning examples of professional design in magazines, books, stationery and packaging. Learn more about working with photos in InDesign or pick up top tips for improving your InDesign layouts instantly.

The post How to Place One Image into Multiple Frames in InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

This straightforward guide will introduce you to some of the most popular print finishes, and how you can adapt your digital artwork for them.

What are ‘print finishes’? 

When you send off artwork to a professional printer, the process might not only involve printing your design. After the print job is finished, you might also want to add special effects to your printed product, such as bringing in metallic finishes or cutting your document to give it unusual edges. The printer will be able to create most of these print finishes (also known as post-print effects) in-house, or in some cases, can send your printed items off to a print finishes specialist.

Either way, it’s a great idea to wise up on the post-print effects you can ask for and what they might be suitable for. You’ll end up with a beautiful final print product…and a very happy printer!

Read on to learn more about the five most commonly used post-print effects…

1. Die Cutting 

Die cutting works in the same sort of way as a pastry cutter—the printer will create a custom die (or use a standardized one for popular cutting shapes, such as for rounded corners) and attach this to a die-cutting machine. The printed item is placed in the machine, and the die is pressed onto the item, creating a cut-out shape.

Dies are also used for other print finishes / post-print effects, such as embossing and scoring.

Use this print finish for: Business cards which require rounded corners; invitations and greetings cards with cut-outs, perhaps to allow the inside of the card to be partly visible when closed. Die cutting should be used for jobs which involve a particular cut-out shape to be repeated across a large batch of items, as the cost of producing a custom die can be high. For more flexibility, you should check out laser cutting instead (see below).

Design: Ryan Romanes

2. Laser Cutting 

Laser cutting is another method of cutting out shapes and edges, but instead uses laser technology to cut your printed item. The laser-cutting machine is hooked up to a computer, which directs the output of a high-power laser beam, cutting the material in the process.

Laser cutting is better suited to creating ornate, detailed shapes. Because the process is digital, and does not use manual tools as with die cutting, the margin for error is minimal—perfect for items which require a delicate touch. Laser cutting is a print finish often used in exclusive packaging and luxury stationery.

Use this print finish for: Wedding and event invitations which you want to look extra-special; stationery items that need a luxurious touch; arts and crafts items.

Design: Avie Designs

3. Foiling 

This print finish, also referred to as foil stamping or hot foiling, is the process of applying a metallic or colored foil to your printed item. This is done using a heated die placed into a foil stamping machine.

While metallics are more commonly used in the foiling process, producing gold, silver or copper tones, you can also use foiling to apply a particularly pigmented color that might otherwise be difficult to produce effectively through CMYK printing alone—neons or pastels are examples that might benefit from foiling.

Use this print finish for: Any print item to which you’d like to add a metallic or highly-pigmented touch. Foiling often works best in small doses, so pick out a single or pair of elements that you’d like to highlight in foil.

Top Tip: Foiling normally requires vector images and/or outlined fonts of the details that you want to have stamped. Place these on a separate layer or in a separate artwork (e.g. PDF) file to make it clear which elements you would like the foil to be applied to.

Design: Paper Bow London

4. Varnishing 

Varnishing is the process of applying a liquid coating to specified elements on your printed item. The process can add a tactile, 3D finish to your designs, and comes in a variety of options—matte, glossy, satin or UV. Ultraviolet (UV) varnishing results in a particularly high-gloss, shiny coating. It is created on a special machine that uses ultraviolet light to ‘cure’ the coating and achieve the final effect.

Use this print finish for: Print items that aren’t particularly colorful. Varnishing adds wonderful texture and interest to monochrome or single-color designs. Varnishing also adds an extra tactile dimension to packaging designs, being particularly suited to items which will be held once picked off the shelves.

Design: Girl&Boy for Inkmedix

5. Embossing and Debossing 

Embossing and debossing are related processes, both created using a metal plate and a counter. The plate is mounted onto a press and the paper item is stamped between the plate and counter. The pressure pushes the paper into the plate, creating the embossed or depressed effect.

Embossing creates a raised impression on the paper, giving the design a three-dimensional appearance.

Design: Pressure Printing Inc (PPI) for Gold Bug

Debossing creates the reverse effect, pushing the paper downwards to create a depression in the stock.

Design: Studio Thomson for Liberty Fabric

Use these print finishes for: Book covers for hardbacks or special-editions—embossing and debossing add an old-fashioned dimension to books which is less “look-at-me” than foil or varnish. Vintage-style stationery will also be enhanced by a touch of embossing or debossing.

Now you know your way around some of the most common print finishes and post-print effects, brush up on your print preparation skills with our two-part beginners guide.

Or head over to our Tutorials page to pick up more tips for creating print-ready design work.

The post The Essential Guide to Print Finishes appeared first on InDesignSkills.

The best thing about them? They’re hiding inside some of your favorite fonts. Discover where you can find cool (and often free!) glyph sets…

 1. Adobe Caslon Pro 

Who knew there were so many gorgeous glyphs hiding away in one of our best-loved typefaces? These intellectual, vintage-style graphics would be perfect for adding to book page designs.

Adobe Caslon Pro:

2. Veneer Extras

These grungy, stamp-style glyphs will add a perfect hip-vintage twist to your print designs.

Veneer Extras (FREE):

3. IM Fell Flowers

Looking for medieval-style romance? You’ve found the perfect glyph font! These two sets of glyphs provide you with stylish, vintage-inspired floral borders and icons.

IM Fell Flowers I (FREE):

IM Fell Flowers 2 (FREE):

4. Floralia

Floral glyphs will always look feminine and elegant, and are ideal for wedding stationery.

Floralia (FREE):

5. Rhomus Omnilots

Stars, stars…and more stars. Add a celestial edge to your designs with these stylish glyphs.

Rhomus Omnilots (FREE):

6. Adobe Wood Type Ornaments

A set of classic-inspired glyphs from Adobe, including typography elements, borders and crests.

Adobe Wood Type Ornaments:

7. Nymphette

An extremely versatile set of scroll elements, borders and dividers, with an elegant, ornate look.

Nymphette (FREE):

8. Davys

Quirky, woodcut-style glyph graphics that would look great on book interiors.

Davys (FREE):

9. Zapf Dingbats

No-fuss, simple symbol glyphs with a clean, modern design. Great for digital projects or print designs that have a more contemporary style.

Zapf Dingbats:

10. Victorian Free Ornaments

These historical-inspired glyph sets provide beautiful, ornate graphics for adding a touch of Victorian grandeur to borders and dividers.

Victorian Free Ornaments (FREE):

Victorian Free Ornaments Two (FREE):

11. Adhesive Nr. Seven

These grunge-style ribbons and banners look great set behind type on designs that are looking for a bit of added detail. Try them out on menus, posters or flyers.

Adhesive Nr. Seven (FREE):

Can’t get enough typographic inspiration? Discover some of the best fonts for magazine and book design. Or take a tour of our Inspiration page to get your creative juices flowing.

The post Typography Secrets: Fonts with the Best Glyphs appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to discover our selection of the best free and classic typefaces whose ampersands are the star of the show…

1. Classic Italic Ampersands 

Looking for elegance, formality and a touch of romance? These ampersands are classically beautiful, and will look fantastic adorning wedding invites, book covers or business cards (the InDesignSkills team’s personal favorite is the Fournier Italic ampersand)…

Adobe Caslon Pro Italic ampersand:

IM FELL French Canon PRO Italic ampersand (FREE):

Goudy Modern MT Std Italic ampersand:

Top pick – Fournier MT Italic ampersand:

2. Modern Sans Serif Ampersands

On the hunt for something a bit different—more clean, more contemporary? These sans serif ampersands might cut the mustard.

Note of caution: when using a contemporary-style ampersand, make sure that the glyph is still instantly recognizable as such—when a typeface tries to be different it can look too abstract for some purposes.

Lane Narrow ampersand (FREE):

Top pick – Museo Sans Rounded ampersand:

Sofia Pro Light ampersand (FREE):

Nikaia ampersand (FREE):

Molot ampersand (FREE):

3. Traditional Ampersands

Sometimes you just need an ampersand that looks traditional, respectable and sturdy—these guys do just that. If you want something that will be universally recognized and suit all manner of purposes, take one of these for a spin…

Baskerville ampersand:

Alegreya ampersand (FREE):

Top pick – Sorts Mill Goudy ampersand (FREE):

Adobe Garamond Pro ampersand:

 4. Script Ampersands

For an ultra-romantic style, look to flowing script typefaces for some of the most beautiful, French-inspired ampersands (our top pick is the Kuenstler Script ampersand)…

Linotype Zapfino ampersand:

Mutlu ampersand (FREE):

Great Vibes ampersand (FREE):

Top pick – Kuenstler Script ampersand:

Looking for more typographic inspiration? Check out our pick of the best fonts for magazines and books. Or delve into our Inspiration page to discover lightbulb ideas for your design projects.

The post Typography Secrets: Fonts with the Best Ampersands appeared first on InDesignSkills.

As an example, we’ll redesign a paperback cover for War & Peace, and give it a distinctively modern design.

1. Before We Begin… 

Before we delve into designing our paperback cover for War & Peace, here are a few top tips for creating book covers in Adobe InDesign:

• It’s always best to design the front of your cover only first, before you create a full cover, with spine and back. This will allow you to visualise the arrangement of type and images, and judge how well elements are centered on the page.
• Duplicate the front page, and keep the original as a stand-alone front cover—this will be useful for online promo shots, and eBook covers.
• You should expand the duplicate page using the Page Tool, and expand it to the full width of the cover, including both front and back cover widths and a spine width (we’ll look at this in more detail below).

In this tutorial we’ll look at giving Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace a modern makeover. I’ve tried to recreate the mood and theme of the book, with collage-style silhouettes of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow—one filled with an image of floral-printed china, to represent peace and domesticity; and the other filled with a military-style map of Prussia, to represent war.

Redesigning covers for classic novels is becoming increasingly common in publishing design; allowing publishers to market vintage classics to new, younger audiences. Discover some of the best examples of recently redesigned covers here.

You’ll learn how to set up a paperback (softcover) version of the full cover in Adobe InDesign and create a collage effect with the help of Adobe Illustrator. We’ll bring in a bit of stylish typography too, to give the cover a modern design.

This design style can be adapted to all sorts of book covers—just switch up the silhouette and inside image!

Ready to create your cover? Great! Let’s get started…

 2. Set up the Cover Template in Adobe InDesign

Step 1

Open up Adobe InDesign.

Go to File > New > Document, and set the Intent of the document to Print. Increase the Number of Pages to 2 and deselect Facing Pages. From the Page Size menu choose Custom.

Name the custom size Paperback Book and set the Width to 132 mm and Height to 197 mm. Click Add and then OK to return to the New Document window.

Step 2

Set the Margins on all sides to 11 mm and the Bleed to 5 mm. Click OK to create the new document.

We’ll work on the front cover design on Page 1—it’s always much easier to work on the front cover design alone at first. Then, a bit later, we’ll expand Page 2 of the document into the full cover, complete with spine and reverse, with the help of the Page Tool.

Step 3

With the rulers visible (View > Show Rulers) click and drag a guide out from the left-hand ruler and drop it onto Page 1 at X position 66 mm, which marks the center point of the page.

 3. Give the Cover a Colored Background

Step 1

Take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag onto Page 1, across the whole page, extending up to the edges of the bleed on the top, right and bottom edges of the page. On the left edge, just extend to the edge of the page, not all the way to the bleed.

Step 2

Expand or open the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches). Create a new CMYK Process swatch, C=100 M=97 Y=48 K=56. Click Add and OK.

From the Swatches panel’s drop-down menu choose New Gradient Swatch.

Name the swatch Blue Gradient and set the Type to Radial.

Move down to the Gradient Ramp and click on the left-hand stop to be able to edit it. Choose CMYK for the Stop Color and set the levels to C=89 M=49 Y=62 K=62.

Click on the right-hand stop and adjust the Stop Color to Swatches. Choose your new swatch, C=100 M=97 Y=48 K=56 from the list below. Click OK.

Step 3

Apply the Blue Gradient swatch to the Fill Color of the rectangle shape. This will apply a lovely subtle gradient to the background of our front cover.

 4. Create Collage-Style Graphics

Step 1

Expand or open the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on the default Layer 1 name. Rename the layer as Background Color and click OK.

Click on the Create New Layer button at the bottom right of the Layers panel to create a new layer. Double-click, and rename the layer as Graphics.

Lock the bottom layer, Background Color by clicking in the blank space to the right of the eye icon, next to the name of the layer in the panel.

Step 2

Now we’re ready to start working on our cathedral graphic!

File > Save As your InDesign document, and minimize InDesign. Open up Adobe Illustrator and create a new document.

To make our collage-style cathedral, we need to first create a basic vector silhouette of the cathedral, and then, a bit later, we’ll fill it with a photo image.

You can download a ready-made vector image of St.Basil’s Cathedral here.

Step 3

Making sure your silhouette has only a simple black fill and no stroke color, select it, and then go up to Edit > Copy in Illustrator.

Return to your InDesign document and Edit > Paste the vector onto Page 1 of your document. Hold Shift to adjust the scale of the pasted vector.

From the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches), set the Fill Color of the vector to [None] to get rid of the [Black] fill.

Step 4

Next up, you need to choose an image to ‘fill’ the cathedral silhouette. I’ve chosen a commons image of an antique map of Prussia, which you can download here. Download the image and return to your InDesign document.

With the vector selected go to File > Place and choose the map image. Click Open.

Click on the Fill Frame Proportionally button in the top control panel to size the image to the frame. Double-click inside the vector frame to manually adjust the scale of the image, holding Shift while you do so, to make sure you’re happy with the effect. Make sure the image extends across the whole of the silhouette.

Step 5

Select the vector and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste.

Ctrl-Click (Mac) or Right-Click (Windows) > Transform > Flip Vertical. Position this flipped cathedral at the top of the page, and go to File > Place. Choose a different image to fill this vector with—to represent ‘Peace’—I’ve gone for a photo of a vintage china plate, which you can download here.

 5. Add in Typography

Step 1

Create a new CMYK Process swatch, C=3 M=0 Y=19 K=0, and rename it Cream.

Step 2

Unlock the Typography layer and use the Type Tool (T) to create a series of text frames on Page 1.

Here I’ve used the Columna Solid typeface for most of the text, with the central ampersand set in Adobe Caslon Pro.

Set individual characters in separate text frames to be able to have more freedom with how you place the type on the page. Set some of the text in [Paper] and some in your new swatch, Cream.

 6. Expand Your Design into a Full Paperback Cover

Step 1

Unlock all the layers in the Layers panel, then drag across Page 1 to select everything on the page. Edit > Copy, then scroll down to Page 2 of your document.

Edit > Paste in Place to make a copy of the front cover on the page.

Now we need to work out the width of the full length of the cover. This will depend on the width of the spine, which in turn will depend on the number of pages inside the book. You can find calculators online for working out the width of a spine depending on the page number and paper weight (gsm), such as the Print on Demand calculator.

Using this I’ve worked out that to accommodate for 1456 pages (the length of War & Peace—yup, it’s a long one!) printed on white offset 80 gsm paper, we will need to have a 73.7 mm spine width.

The equation for the full width of the cover is this:

Front Cover Width (x) + Spine Width (y) + Back Cover Width (x) = Total Width (x + x + y)

So, for ourWar & Peace cover it’s going to be…

132 mm + 73.7 mm + 132 mm = 337.7 mm Total Width

Step 2

Select the Page Tool (Shift + P) and, holding down Option (Windows) or Alt (Mac), drag the left-hand edge of the page out to the left, increasing the page width to the full 337.7 mm. When you let go, the page width will remain at its new width.

If you’re struggling to get the width exactly right as you drag, you can simply type in the correct width in the box at the top-left corner of the workspace.

Step 3

From the left-hand ruler pull out a guide to X position 137 mm, to mark out the left edge of the spine.

Pull out a second guide to 168.85 mm, which marks out the center point of the spine.

Finally, pull out a third guide to 68.5 mm, to mark out the center of the back cover.

Step 4

Return to the Layers panel and lock all layers except the Background Color layer.

From the Swatches panel, click on the Blue Gradient swatch to select it, then click on the New Swatch button to duplicate it.

Double-click on the duplicate swatch to open up the Swatch Options window.

Rename the swatch Blue Gradient Spine. Keep everything as it is, just move the right-hand stop on the Gradient Ramp to the left, until you reach about 46%. Click OK to save your edits.

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a shape that extends across the spine, and up to the bleed on the top and bottom (73.7 mm in Width). Set the Fill Color to Blue Gradient Spine. The gradient on this is a bit tighter, so the lighter tone will not extend too far away from the central part of the spine.

Create a second shape using the Rectangle Tool (M), extending it over the whole of the back cover, up to the left edge of the spine, and up to the bleed on the top, left and bottom edges of the page. Set the Fill to Blue Gradient.

Step 5

Return to the Layers panel and lock the Background Color layer. Unlock the next layer up, Graphics.

Copy and Paste the cathedral vectors on the front cover, onto the back cover, and arrange them as shown below. You can switch up the fill image of the vectors too, if you like.

Paste a couple of vectors onto the spine too—here, I’ve removed the image fill, and given them a pale blue Color Fill, C=57 M=12 Y=21 K=0.

Step 6

Lock the Graphics layer and unlock the top layer, Typography.

Zoom into the spine and create a few rows of text frames using the Type Tool (T). Type in the title, allowing one text frame for each line of the title, and mimic the typography formatting used on the front cover but at a smaller Font Size. Set all the text to Align Center and make sure the frames are perfectly centered along the center guide.

Use the Ellipse Tool (L), and hold down Shift, to create a circle on the center of the back cover. Select the Type Tool (T) and click into the circle to transform it into a text frame.

Add a blurb to the back cover, aligning the text centrally. Here, I’ve set the Font to Columna Solid, Size 10.5 pt, Leading 13 pt. Use the swatch colors we created earlier to add a touch of color to the typography.

 7. Export Your Finished Cover

The artwork for your paperback cover is finished, fantastic work!

All that’s left to do now is to export it ready for printing.

Of course, you can also export Page 1 of your document as an eBook cover (check the file format requirements of the eBook store before you upload it), but here I’ll walk you through the steps of exporting this as a print-ready file, which is suitable for sending to a professional book-printer.

Step 1

Go to File > Export. Choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format drop-down menu. Click Save.

In the Export Adobe PDF window, choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset drop-down menu, and  adjust the page range from All to Range: 2, just to export your full cover.

From the left-hand menu in the window, click on Marks and Bleeds. Check All Printer’s Marks and, under Bleed and Slug, Use Document Bleed Settings.

Click Export to create your print-ready cover.

In this tutorial you’ve learned how to give a classic book a modern makeover, and set up the full paperback cover in Adobe InDesign. Awesome work!

Want a free paperback cover InDesign template? Of course you do! Find it on our Templates page.

Looking for some book design inspiration? Head over to our Inspiration page to pore over beautiful book covers, and find great ideas for book typography. Find out more about creating inside pages for your books with this straightforward tutorial.

The post Design a Paperback Book Cover in InDesign: Tutorial appeared first on InDesignSkills.

It’s well worth a look even if you’re using an earlier InDesign version (CS4, CS5 and CS6). But if you’re a user of CC you’ll also be able to import color palettes directly into your InDesign artwork.

How to Use Adobe Color to Create Color Themes

Using the online Adobe Color platform, which you can use to create your own color palettes (or ‘Color Themes‘). You can create themes in the desktop or mobile Adobe Color app, or create themes in InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop.

Let’s learn how to use the app and apply Color Themes to your InDesign documents using the online Adobe Color platform.

Step 1: Browse Color Themes Manually

If you’re working in InDesign CC, make sure to open InDesign CC up and open your internet browser too. Ensure that you are logged in with your Adobe ID to Creative Cloud.

In your browser navigate to Adobe Color’s online color wheel. You can play around with the wheel, adjusting the Color Rule on the left-hand side to different settings, such as Analogous…

…or Compound, to create different color combinations and find colors that work well together as a group.

The wheel translates the colors to RGB format by default, but you can adjust the colors to CMYK by clicking on the RGB values just below a selected color to open a drop-down menu. You can also alter the colors in InDesign directly, which we’ll take a look at a bit later.

Step 2: Browse Color Themes Using a Photo

You can also choose to lift colors from an image, like a more sophisticated version of the Eyedropper Tool in InDesign.

Remaining in your browser, click on the small camera icon at the top right of the screen. You will be prompted to choose and open an image from your computer.

I’ve chosen a JPEG photo of an exotic toucan. The image has a variety of color tones I’d like to pick up in Adobe Color.

Adobe Color will automatically pick up a palette of different colors from the image. You can also adjust the Color Mood of the theme; in this example the tones are picked out in a Colorful mood…

…and this is a Muted combination. Hmmm, what else can we do…

…you can also go for a Custom combination and click to select your own colors from the image.

I’ve decided I like the Muted color combination best. Once you’re happy with the Color Theme, you can save it by clicking on the Save* button at the top-left of the window. Give the theme a name, here I’ve gone for ‘Muted Toucan Colors‘.

*You’ll need to be logged in with your Adobe ID to Creative Cloud to save the theme.

From the menu running along the top-left of the window you can click on My Themes to view your saved theme.

Step 3: Apply Your Color Themes in InDesign

To take advantage of this, you’ll need to have access to Adobe InDesign CC.

Return to InDesign and File > Open the document you would like to apply color to.

Go to Window > Adobe > Adobe Color Themes to open the Color Themes panel. The panel’s made up of three windows: Create, Explore, and My Themes.

Under Create, there’s a smaller, more simplified version of the color wheel that you can use to create new Color Themes as you work.

Under Explore, you’re presented with a library of pre-loaded Color Themes from Adobe, which is a great little tool if you’re stuck for color ideas.

Finally, under My Themes, you will find your pre-saved Color Themes. Here, as you can see, ‘Muted Toucan Colors‘ is waiting, ready for me to use in my document!

Before you start applying color, you can choose to add a Color Theme to your collection of Swatches in InDesign. Go to Window > Color > Swatches to open the Swatches panel.

Back in the Adobe Color Themes panel, under My Themes, click Actions to the bottom right of your chosen Color Theme to open a drop-down menu. Select Add to Swatches Panel. Your colors will be added to the Swatches panel. Not only that, InDesign CC has also helpfully grouped them into a folder with the title of your Color Theme. Nice and organized!

If you didn’t save the Color Theme in CMYK mode, and you’re putting together a print document, no worries. Simply Control-Click (Mac OS) or Right-Click (Windows) on an individual swatch in the Swatches panel, choose Swatch Options, and select CMYK from the Color Mode drop-down menu. Click OK.

Now you can start applying your new color swatches to elements in your document! 

How to Use Adobe Color to Convert Color Formats

Even if you’re not a CC user, you can still get some great features out of Adobe Color.

One of these is to use Adobe Color to convert color formats quickly and easily. Say you have a CMYK swatch in InDesign, and want to convert that to an RGB, Lab or even Hex Code format (which is suitable for web design). Admittedly, you can convert CMYK colors to RGB values directly in InDesign, but using the Adobe Color app is super quick and easy. As a bonus, you can’t convert to Hex format unless you use the Color Picker feature in Adobe Photoshop.

Simply navigate to the Adobe Color color wheel, and type in your CMYK values underneath one of the swatch tabs beneath the wheel.

Adobe Color will automatically convert the CMYK color to RGB, Lab, HSB and Hex formats. It’s that easy!

This is a particularly useful feature if you’re designing within the restrictions of a branded color palette, and need to share color formats with web designers or developers quickly and easily.

Craving more InDesign tips and tricks? Discover how to prepare your colored documents for printing, or check out our broad range of InDesign tutorials.

The post Adobe Color CC: Become a Master of Color appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Do not despair! Read on to find four quick and easy solutions to deal with the problem pronto!

Solution 1: Identify If You’ve Added Anything to the Document Recently

You might need to get your detective’s hat on…It’s likely that there’s something hiding in your InDesign document that has prompted InDesign to flag up the file as damaged. This could be a something like a damaged image or a dodgy font file.

Were you able to open your file without a problem not that long ago? If so, try to think about what else has been added to the document since that point in time. Recently introduced a new font into the document? It’s probably the corrupting culprit.

If you have back-ups on your computer, or have Time Machine set up if you have a Mac OS, you should be able to open a slightly older version of your file.

Solution 2: Check Your Preferences

Your problem might be something to do with corrupt InDesign Preferences.

To get rid of any corruption in your preferences, relaunch InDesign and straight away hold down Control-Alt-Shift(Windows) or Command-Control-Opt-Shift (Mac OS) and click Yes when prompted with the message Delete InDesign Preference files? Usually this will allow you to open your file without a problem. Hooray!

Solution 3: Resave to a Different File Format

INDD (normal Adobe InDesign format) files are more susceptible to being corrupted than IDML (InDesign CS4 and later) or INX (InDesign CS3 and earlier) file formats.

Try to open your corrupted file on a different computer (e.g. try opening the file on a PC if you normally use a Mac, and vice versa; or try opening on a different version of Windows).

If you are able to open it, go to File > Save and resave the file as an IDML or INX file. You’ll normally have no problems with opening the file in this format.

The file will open up as a new Untitled document, and from here you can File > Save your now uncorrupted document to your preferred folder.

Solution 4: Open a Copy of Your File

Being able to open your corrupted file is sometimes as frustratingly simple as opening up a copy.

Open InDesign and go to File > Open. Navigate to your corrupted InDesign file and click to select it. From the bottom of the Open window, choose Open Copy. InDesign will open the file as an Untitled copy. From here, you can File > Save the file as an uncorrupted copy.

We hope that we’ve helped to make your computer say ‘YES!’

Track down more helpful tips for Adobe InDesign over at our Beginner Tutorials page.

The post Open Corrupt InDesign Files: Make Your Computer Say ‘Yes’! appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In this series of tutorials, How Did They Do That?, we dissect the tricks used by graphic design pros and share surprisingly simple tips that will make your InDesign work look ultra-professional, even if you’re a beginner to the software!

Examples of the Type on a Path Tool

We’re going to focus on how the Type on a Path Tool can be used in magazine design. Image + typography might be the consistent formula for selling issues, but this doesn’t mean the formula needs to be conventional. Magazine designers are always on the lookout for new ways to reinvent their covers.

Layering text in interesting, fluid ways over the top of striking photography is an attention-grabbing way to make covers look more artistic and exciting. It’s also a great technique for making the text interact more naturally with the curves, lines and shapes of an image.

Text is positioned along the curves of Sophie Hicks’ head, from Fraulein Magazine

Graffiti-style headers sit on irregular baselines, from Elle Indonesia

A chalkboard-style cover, from Milwaukee Magazine

This technique might look tricky, but it’s anything but. You can recreate the style easily in Adobe InDesign with the Type on a Path and Pen Tools.

It all comes down to a few simple steps…

Step 1: Create a New Layer for Your Typography

Create a basic cover in Adobe InDesign, to a size that you prefer. On the existing layer, use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create a new image frame, and File > Place a photo in the frame.

Look for photos with strong shapes and curves—portraits of people work well, as do aerial photos with plenty of white space in-between items on the photo (this doesn’t have to be actually white, just one plain background color which will allow text to appear legible).

I’ve used this aerial shot of rolls of bread on a wooden board. There’s plenty of curves and lots of space for placing text, without being interrupted with too much detail beneath.

Create a new layer from the Layers panel (choose New Layer from the panel’s drop-down menu), and rename the layer Typography.

Lock the bottom layer, to avoid moving the photo around by mistake. You can make room for a header, and subtitle at the top of the page.

Step 2: Use the Pen Tool (P)

From the Tools panel choose the Pen Tool, or hit P on the keyboard.

You can use the Pen Tool in two ways. One, by simply clicking onto the page and creating a series of joined straight lines. The second way, which we’re going to use here, is to click and drag onto the page to create a curved line, then click again to create a second curve joined to the first and so on

Move across to the pasteboard, next to the page, to experiment with creating curved lines with the Pen Tool. You can do this quite easily without a graphics tablet, but it might take a little bit of practice to get the curves looking really smooth and fluid.

Move back onto the page, and use the Pen Tool to draw smooth curves around one section of your selected photo.

You can use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the anchor points and handlesof the line, and adjust them by either dragging or using the arrows on the keyboard. You may also find it useful to set the Stroke Color of the line to a bright, contrasting color for now, to make it easier to see.

Step 3: Use the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T)

Once you’ve created your line, head back over to the Tools panel. From the Type Tool drop-down menu, choose the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T).

Hover your cursor over one edge of the line and click once. The curved line will be transformed into a type path. You can now type in text, and apply formatting in the same way as you would for text in a text frame.

Remove the color of the Stroke and set it to [None].

Here, I’ve used two fonts to create a bold, uppercase effect, set in a white, [Paper], color—Aachen Std…

…and Return to Sender.

Repeat the process, using the Pen Tool (P) to draw curved lines around parts of the photo, and then transform them into text paths using the Type on a Path Tool (Shift+T).

Format the text using the Formatting Controls panel at the top of the workspace, or from the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character).Vary the Font Size, Font and Color to create an eclectic, interesting look.

Great work! Try applying the technique to different photos and layouts—this effect also looks great on posters and cards.

Craving more pro design tips? Discover how to design a movie poster, or how to create an impressive 3D effect for magazine design.

The post Type on a Path in InDesign Tutorial appeared first on InDesignSkills.

If you’re new to the EPUB game, this article will take you through the process of getting started—from which software to use to design your EPUB, to where to sell your work.

1. What is an EPUB?

An EPUB (Electronic Publication Format) is a broad term which applies to a range of different digital publications. The most commonly known and commonly used EPUB format is the eBook, which can be read on EPUB-compatible devices, like readers and tablets.

Just like a web page, the structure of an EPUB is based on HTML, and the EPUB can be viewed on a number of digital devices, including tablets, laptops, desktop computers and specialist eReader devices.

If you’re looking to create your first EPUB, there’s something important you need to be aware of—that EPUBs come in two different formats, called Reflowable and Fixed Layout.

What is a Reflowable EPUB?

A reflowable EPUB contains ‘live text’, which you can select, highlight and search.

You can also change the size of the text and even the typeface in a reflowable EPUB. This will force the lines of text to expand and break onto other lines; to ‘reflow’.

Most text-heavy publications, like novels and textbooks, will be set in a reflowable EPUB format.

What is a Fixed Layout EPUB?

A fixed layout EPUB is just that—the layout is fixed and doesn’t behave responsively when the reader views it.

This actually works really well for more complex eBooks and eMagazines, that perhaps contain a lot of images and have intricate layouts that would suffer if they had a reflowable digital format. The final result may appear a bit more like a PDF (though take note that a PDF is different to an EPUB).

Design: Eleanor Rogers

Which Format Should I Pick?

Both reflowable and fixed layout EPUBs are in line with the most recent specification for EPUBs, which is 3.0.1. So, if you export your EPUB to one of the above formats, you’re ready to go ahead and sell your eBook on a commercial eBook or eMagazine site.

But how do you know which of the two EPUB formats is right for you?

If you’re designing a visual-heavy EPUB, like a magazine or photo book, a fixed layout EPUB format is probably going to give you the best result. Your layout arrangements and effects, such as transparencies and gradients, will remain intact.

If you’re typesetting a novel, a reflowable format is probably going to be best; readers will be able to blow up the size of text to help make it more legible; and they’ll also be able to search the book to find particular words, passages or chapters.

2. How Do I Create an EPUB?

EPUBs are designed using a layout software of your choice, that’s suitable for exporting to an EPUB format.

The field of digital publishing is relatively young, and as a result there’s no single market leader in digital publishing software. That’s great for you, as this gives you lots of choice, and depending on your budget and skillset you can choose a software that’s going to suit your needs perfectly.

Here are some of the popular options for creating EPUBs and eMagazines, some of which are paid-for and some free:

Adobe InDesign

An (obvious) favorite of the InDesignSkills team, this print publishing giant has been adapted for designing EPUBs (look to the most recent CC version of the software for the most updated EPUB adaptation), and you can export existing designs to both reflowable and fixed layout formats.

InDesign CC is subscription-based, with different payment options for schools, individuals and businesses, but if you’re looking for complete control and professionalism in your EPUB design, InDesign certainly won’t disappoint. It also interacts fluidly with other Adobe software, like Photoshop and Illustrator, allowing you to move content easily between the programmes.

Adobe Digital Publishing Solution

Adobe has also created this software, which is aimed directly at digital publishers.

Perfectly suited to creating apps and EPUBs, DPS allows you to design complex layouts for digital devices without the need for coding.

BlueGriffon

BlueGriffon is another great software choice for creating EPUBs, and is probably best suited to more traditional, text-heavy publications. It’s a WYSIWYG editor, like Sigil, and works for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

BlueGriffon is a paid-for subscription-based programme.

Sigil

A great choice if you’re on a tight budget, Sigil is completely free to download and use.

It’s an open-source EPUB creation software package for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This software is great if you’re going to be creating more traditional EPUBs, with less interactive content, and it also gives you direct control over the code, which is a handy option to have.

Apple iBooks Author

For all you Apple lovers out there, this is a great little free app, aimed at designers wanting to create EPUBs for iPads and Macs.

iBooks Author is an easy-to-use, intuitive and stylish app for creating EPUBs.

3. How Do I Add Interactivity to my EPUB?

Interactive elements, such as video content and animation, add an extra-special touch to EPUBs. They can liven up educational eBooks, and keep eMagazine readers engaged with an extra level of content to explore.

There are now so many ways to integrate more interactive content into your EPUB designs.

Once you have your basic EPUB layout in place you can add animations (try out Adobe Edge Animate), interactive engagement and eLearning content (Adobe Captivate is perfect for creating quizzes and tests) and videos.

Adding touch-sensitive page-turning to your EPUB can also make the reader’s experience more immersive, and imitate that real-life page-turning action.

4. Where Can I Sell My EPUB?

Once you’ve designed your EPUB, you’re ready to share it with the rest of the world!

Some EPUB softwares are designed to link you directly with an eBook store, such as Apple iBooks Author, which encourages you to upload your completed EPUB for sale on the Apple iBooks Store.

Other major eBook stores* that you can check out are:

• Amazon (Kindle)
• Kobo
• Barnes & Noble
• Lulu
• Smashwords

*A word of caution—different eBook stores may require different sizes and resolutions for your EPUB cover, so be sure to check out the store’s requirements before uploading.

Once you’ve picked your design software, created your EPUB, added a dash of interactivity, and sized your cover for your eBook store of choice, you can officially crown yourself as an EPUB expert!

Whether you’re aiming to be the next eBook sensation, or just looking to dip a toe into the world of EPUB design, it’s certainly an expanding and exciting world to be a part of.

Read up on tips for creating books in Adobe InDesign, or discover our dedicated book design section to find even more inspiration for your next project.

The post A Quick Guide: Creating & Publishing EPUBs appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Discover these simple tips for enhancing your photographic layouts by playing with scale, color and typography.

Tip Number 1: Don’t Be Afraid to Go Black-and-White

Sure, full-color photos can look amazing, but if you’re looking for something all-together cooler in your layouts, don’t be afraid to use black-and-white photography.

Greyscale images make a superb backdrop for punchy typography, which looks great on magazines, posters and flyers.

To recreate the layout design shown here, just follow the steps below.

Step 1

First up, create a New Document in InDesign (go to File > New > Document) and create your page or spread at the size you would like. Use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to draw a frame and expand across the whole page.

Step 2

Download a ready prepared black-and-white image like this one of a desert road, or open up a color photo in Adobe Photoshop and use the Black & White Adjustment available in the Layers panel to desaturate the image of color. Resave the image, and then return to InDesign.

Step 3

With the rectangle frame selected, go to File > Place to drop your black-and-white image inside the frame; then choose Fill Frame Proportionally from the top control panel to fit the image nicely in the frame.

Step 4

Expand or open the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and lock Layer 1. Create a new layer on top of this by choosing New Layer… from the panel’s drop-down menu.

You can experiment with your typography on this layer, without worrying about shifting the position of the photo frame below.

To mimic the style of the text pictured here, download and install the free font Sanchez. Using the Type Tool (T) set each individual letter of the heading in its own separate text frame. Set the Font to Sanchez Regular, and vary the size of the letters to give a sense of movement.

For this particular photo it makes sense that the letters would decrease in size towards the horizon to give the impression of distance, but you might find that a different arrangement will work better for your particular photo choice.

Step 5

Acidic, neon colors work so well against black-and-white photos. Here, I’ve used a zesty, pure yellow. Create a new CMYK swatch from the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and set the values to C=0 M=0 Y=83 K=0.

To recreate the hazy effect used across the heading, drag your mouse across the page to select a number of text frames and Right-Click (Windows) or Ctrl-Click (Mac OS) > Group. Then with the group selected, go to Object > Effects > Transparency. Under the Transparency settings set the Mode to Overlay.

Move down the left-hand menu in the Effects window and select Gradient Feather. Adjust the angle and harshness (by adjusting the slider stops) of the gradient.

Then click OK once you’re happy with the result.

Tip Number 2: Take a Closer Look…

Playing with the scale of your photos can make a huge difference to the impact of your layout.

If you have a very high-quality image, like this one…

…try zooming into the details to give the photo a more interesting focus. Getting really close-up to the details of a photo is a fantastic way of getting the reader to notice the quality and beauty of a particular photograph.

To edit the scale of images in InDesign, first File > Place your image into an image frame; then double-click inside the frame to directly select the image. Hold down Shift while you drag the corners outwards to maintain the proportions of the photo.

Tip Number 3: Make Photos and Type Interact 

It’s all very well placing text beside or on top of a photo, but sometimes it can look, well, a little dull.

Look out for photos which allow you to place text on top in an interesting, interactive way.

Take this example layout. With the woman positioned centrally on the layout, we have plenty of room to get creative with text. To the left side, the text is set in Adobe Caslon Pro Regular and has a conventional horizontal format.

To the right, to exaggerate the snow being blown from her hands, letters in Adobe Caslon Pro Italic are set in individual text frames and rotated slightly to create a jaunty, animated appearance.

A gradient (Window > Effects > Gradient Feather) applied to the letters as a group adds to the overall effect.

Ready to start using photos in your layouts? First discover breathtaking photo layout inspiration here, or get back to basics with our InDesign images tutorial.

The post InDesign Magazine Layouts: Working With Photos appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to find the definitive list of standard sizes for the USA, Australia and Europe, with helpful visual guides.

1. USA Business Card Size

A standard US business card size is 89 mm (3.5 in) in Width and 51 mm (2 in) in Height.

If you go to create a New Document in InDesign (File > New > Document) you’ll find that a US Business Card custom page size is included by default under the Page Size menu. Helpful!

Make sure to reduce the width of your Margins (between 6 and 8 mm usually looks fine for a US card), and add a Bleed when you set up your document if your card’s going to have a colored background.

2. Australia Business Card Size

A standard Australian business card size is 90 mm (3.543 in) in Width and 55 mm (2.165 in) in Height. This can vary a little depending on your printer, so make sure to check in advance the preferred size used by your supplier of choice.

3. United Kingdom (UK) and Western Europe Business Card Size

UK and Western European (Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Slovenia) business cards tend to be more on the square side of the business card spectrum. Sizes can vary across suppliers, but the most commonly used standard size is 85 mm (3.346 in) in Width and 55 mm (2.165 in) in Height.

Can’t wait to get started with designing your own business cards?

First up, get your creative juices flowing with this inspirational selection of awesome business card designs, then head over to our InDesign Tutorials page to swot up on setting up your card in InDesign.

The post Business Card Sizes: All the Standard Sizes You Need appeared first on InDesignSkills.

This easy-peasy tip is the secret weapon of professional typographers, and will impress your designer friends without a doubt!

1. What is Hanging Punctuation?

There are a couple of tricks up the sleeve of a professional graphic designer or typographer to make their text formatting look particularly spectacular, and Hanging Punctuation is one of them.

Hanging Punctuation refers to the shifting of small punctuation marks, such as apostrophes and commas, and elements of characters, such as pokey serifs, to outside the normal boundaries of a block of text.

Without applying hung punctuation, paragraphs of text can appear visually uneven, and not seem completely symmetrical or straight. Typographers know that hung punctuation is a subtle but incredibly effective technique for achieving an ultra-professional look in their designs.

2. InDesign to the Rescue: Optical Margin Alignment

You can achieve the hung punctuation effect with next-to-no effort by using InDesign’s handy Optical Margin Alignment function.

Take a look at this magazine spread for the article Spirit of Adventure.

Hmm, OK, it’s looking alright; but that apostrophe at the start of the first paragraph sure is taking up a lot of space.

Head up to Window on InDesign’s menu, and go to Type & Tables > Story. This opens up a little-know panel called the Story panel, and in this panel we have an option called Optical Margin Alignment.

Just take a look at the difference it makes. Here, we have no Optical Margin Alignment applied.

Ta-dah! With the text frame selected and the Optical Margin Alignment checkbox ticked, that great big apostrophe is shifted to outside the boundary of the text frame, and the whole body of text on the rest of the article is subtly shifted; with punctuation marks and serif elements pushed to sit outside the line of the text.

Doesn’t it look so much nicer?

And it’s as simple as that!

Try to get in the habit of applying Hanging Punctuation to any design where you’re dealing with longer paragraphs of text—guaranteed it will make a world of difference to the quality of your typography.

To pick up some more typography tricks and access our library of InDesign articles and tips why not pay a visit to our InDesign tutorials page?

The post Typography Skills: Hanging Punctuation appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Let us guide you through the recommended sizes for typesetting books, and make sure nobody’s going to need to strain their eyes.

1. Why Does Font Size Matter?

Typesetting is an unsung hero in the publishing world. When you read a book that has high-quality typesetting, you probably won’t even notice it. Good typesetting will make the book more legible, easy-on-the-eye and be superbly suited to the genre and context of the book.

Font size is the most crucial factor in typesetting a book, but it can be tricky to get it just right. The ‘ideal’ font sizes listed at the bottom of the article are given as part of a recommended range. Whether you lean towards the smaller or larger end of the range will depend on some of the following factors. Take note, and choose your type size in accordance:

Q: Is the book long or short?

A publisher might want to be economic with the number of pages if a book is going to be long. If that’s the case, edge towards the smaller end of the size scale. You can also reduce the size of the Margins on your pages to squeeze more text onto the page.

If the book’s short, a publisher might want to increase the number of pages to make the book look fatter, and therefore appear to be of higher value to a browser. Increase your font size (and your Leading [the space between lines of text]) if this is the case.

Q: Who is the Readership?

Who is the book aimed at? This ties in with the genre of the book as well. Will the audience be intellectual (literary and classic fiction), or will they be looking for a quick, absorbing read (‘airport’ fiction, romance, thrillers, young adult fiction)? Are they adults or children (children’s books will often need a much larger font size)?

Some genres go hand-in-hand with a particular font size. It seems like an unspoken rule that more intellectual fiction requires a smaller font size, and therefore more concentration (or eye-strain, whichever way you see it) to read it. Nonetheless, a very slightly smaller font size communicates intelligence and seriousness, and will suit modern literary fiction and classic novels equally well.

Larger font sizes are more digestible, and will be more suited to typesetting 50 Shades of Grey than a Franz Kafka reprint.

So make sure to consider your readership, and the sort of font sizes they will be expecting to encounter.

2. The Perfect Font Size for Books

Of course, everybody has different preferences for book font size, and quality of eyesight can be a factor in shaping these preferences.

But assuming most people will fall in the middle of the spectrum (neither eagle-eyed nor poor-sighted) these font size ranges for headings and body text should cut the mustard each and every time…

Body Text:

Minimum 10 pt — Maximum 12 pt

Chapter Headings (‘A’ Headings):

Minimum 14 pt — Maximum 16 pt

Sub-titles (‘B’ Headings):

Minimum 12 pt — Maximum 14 pt

Make sure to think about your Leading too—as a general rule, try to make it a little more generous than the Auto leading value in InDesign.

Once you’ve decided on your perfect font size, you’ll need to find the perfect font too! Discover our pick of the only 5 fonts you’ll ever need for books or brush up on your skills for creating books in InDesign.

The post Choosing Font Sizes for Books: Get Your Typesetting Size Right appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Use this guide to navigate the murky waters of InDesign file formats, and wise-up on the difference between INDD and IDML, and the right way to down-save or up-save your files.

1. The Dual Nature of InDesign File Formats

When you create and save a file in Adobe InDesign, you’ll notice that the file has been given the extension .indd. INDD is the extension given to all InDesign files created in the standard way in any version of the design software, whether that’s InDesign CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 or CC.

If you navigate to an InDesign file in your Finder (Mac OS) or Windows Explorer, you’ll also notice that the InDesign file has been classified in an additional way, under Kind. This indicates which version of InDesign the file was created in; in this case we can see that the file has been created in InDesign CC 2015.

It is this Kind categorisation that prevents you from opening a CC file in say CS5 or CS6. If you try to open it up, an error message will flag up, informing you that the file is not of a supported file type and cannot be opened in an older version of InDesign.

2. How to Open your Files in any Software Version

Adobe wants to encourage all InDesign users to gravitate to CC, the newest subscription-based version of the software. But this may not be the right choice for everybody—some designers are loyal to older versions of InDesign because of their familiarity with the programme, others might be discouraged by the cost of a subscription-based service.

And guess what? That’s absolutely fine, because you can open any InDesign file in any other version of InDesign if you save the file in the right way.

If you want to be able to open a file created in an older version of InDesign in a newer version you should have few problems with opening INDD files just as they are. But to down-save (open a file in an older version to the original) or up-save if you’re having problems opening the original file you need to save your work as an IDML file (or INX file for opening in CS3, see below).

An IDML (InDesign Markup) file is a ‘legacy’ file format. Saving your InDesign file as an IDML file allows users of different versions of InDesign to open up the file without a problem.

Saving a CC or CS6 file for opening in CS4, CS5 or CS5.5:

To save your INDD InDesign file as an IDML file, open up the file in InDesign, and go to File > Save As. Select InDesign CS4 or later (IDML) from the drop-down Format menu, and click Save.

You now have an IDML version of your original InDesign file.

Saving a CS5 or CS5.5 file for opening in CS4:

With your INDD file opened up, go to File > Export. Choose IDML from the drop-down Format menu and click Save.

Saving a CS5, CS5.5 CS6 or CC file for opening in CS3:

Unfortunately you can’t save back directly from CS5 for opening in CS3. To do this you will have to down-save to CS4 first.

With the INDD file open in CS5 or later choose File > Export. Choose IDML from the Format drop-down menu and hit Save.

Open the IDML file in InDesign CS4. From here, go to File > Export and this time choose InDesign Interchange (INX) as the file Type (Windows) or Format (Mac OS). Click Save to create your INX file, which is now suitable for opening in InDesign CS3.

IMPORTANT: To share your work with others, you should be sure to send a copy of your original INDD file along with the IDML file. The IDML file is linked to the original INDD file; and the IDML file acts as a sort of key which is able to unlock the INDD file.

The best way to share your compatible files with others is to first Package your InDesign file, and then save the IDML file into the packaged folder.

To send the file over email or large file transfer, simply compress the packaged folder (containing both the INDD and IDML files) and attach.

To learn more about using InDesign and develop your design skills pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post Which File Format?: A Guide to INDD, IDML, INX and Everything In-Between appeared first on InDesignSkills.

These are some of the most common head-wringing printer problems when they encounter client files, and tips on how to get them sorted out. In no time at all, you and your printer are going to be best buds!

1. You’ve cropped everything to the trim edge…

You may think you’re being helpful getting everything tidied up and looking nice and neat, but if you’re cropping all your images and background colour to the edge of the page (the ‘trim’ edge), that means you won’t have a Bleed on your final print file. A bleed extends content past the edge of the page, which minimises the visibility of trimming errors at the end of the print process.

So why does my printer hate me??

The printer will have to either get you to re-export the file with a bleed, or access the native (original InDesign) file and manually extend everything past the trim edge themselves. Which takes time…and money.

What can I do about it?

Include a bleed in your artwork, and make sure you include it when you go to export your document to a print-ready file (e.g. PDF). This quick tutorial will give you the details: How to prepare a bleed in your InDesign documents.

2. You’ve set the document at the wrong size…

So you’ve created a stunning business card design, and placed it in the middle of a letter-sized page. When you gave it to the printer they audibly groaned. What gives?

So why does my printer hate me??

You should always size your documents to their final print size. So if you’re creating a business card in InDesign, set the page size at a business card size; don’t place your design in the centre of a larger page. Or even worse – NEVER set a number of repeated designs on one large page. Nightmare.

What can I do about it?

Use the New Document window in InDesign (File > New > Document) to set the right size for your document from the outset; or use the Page Tool (Shift+P) to resize pages flexibly as you work.

Read this tutorial to master the New Document window.

3. You’ve included random Spot Colors or RGB Swatches…

You’ve sent your printer your original InDesign file, which they process and print. But then the print bill comes back…and it’s much more than expected. But why?!

So why does my printer hate me??

It seems pretty likely that you’ve included some unwanted Spot Colors in your design. This means that they have to be pulled onto a different printing plate, which adds time and money to the job. If your printer really doesn’t like you they might go ahead and print regardless; but if they’re nice they might suggest you sort out your colours pronto. If you’ve also included any RGB Color Swatches in your design, this is going to make the final printed result really unpredictable as well.

What can I do about it?

Get savvy about all things colour-related with our beginner’s guide to colour in print design. Adjust all your colour swatches to CMYK (not RGB), and only include Spot Colors if you really, really have to.

4. You’ve exported your file as ‘Printer’s Spreads’…

So you’ve arranged the pages in your print-ready file in the order they will be printed and bound, not necessarily in the order they will be read. Helpful right?

So why does my printer hate me??

Afraid to say, that’s not helpful at all. You should always export your file as Reader’s Spreads (i.e. the order the pages would be read by the reader). Don’t sweat about getting your file in the order it’s going to be bound (e.g. a page near the front of a book or magazine sitting opposite a page near the end of the document); the printer will sort that out in the way they know best.

What can I do about it?

Export your InDesign document in the order of pages as you created it originally; no need to do anything fancy. And always export your file as pages, not spreads. If you’re worried about the printer not understanding how you want everything to be printed, provide them with a rough mock-up.

Feel ultra-confident about preparing your work for print with our handy two-part guide.

5. You’ve sent the printer your InDesign file…

Why send a print-ready PDF when I can send my original InDesign file, right? OK, well, that’s fine as long as they have the relevant version of the software to be able to open your file. But hold on, your file is just that – just a file on its own.

So why does my printer hate me??

If you send the printer your ‘native’ (InDesign) file the printer will have the freedom to export the file to a print-ready format that suits their purposes. But that’s no use if you just send the printer your InDesign file in isolation. If you’ve not packaged your file, and provided the full folder of packaged Links and Font files, the printer won’t be able to see your InDesign document as you intended it. It will be riddled with errors and blurry images, and simply not fit-for-purpose.

What can I do about it?

When you’ve finished working on your InDesign file make sure that you package it (File > Package).

Read up on our straightforward guide to packaging your documents and make your printer a very happy bunny.

Take these tips to heart and you and your printer will be the best of friends guaranteed!

The post Why Does My Printer Hate Me?: This Advice Will Make Them Love You… appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Panic not! Here are 5 ways to spice up your designs super quickly and easily, and make them look instantly more attractive, polished and professional!

1. Make your Margins Wider

Never underestimate the transformative power of a generous margin around the edges of your page(s). It really is the simplest tip for making layouts look instantly more visually appealing, and giving text and graphics more breathing space.

Adjust your margins in InDesign by going to Layout > Margins and Columns, accessible from the top menu. Try increasing your existing margins by an extra 5 mm, and see your layout look more attractive pronto!

2. Limit your Colour Palette

Colour has the power to transform the mood of your designs, but introducing too much colour can make a layout appear cluttered and messy. Try to limit your use of colour to no more than three colour swatches to a page—you’ll be amazed how bold and punchy your design can become!

Another colour tip to make your posters and brochures look ultra-dramatic and to draw attention to headers and logos is to use just one colour on an otherwise monochrome layout. In the example below, white and black tones allow the red text to really pop and draw the eye.

Edit colour in InDesign using the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches). Learn more about using colour in InDesign with our handy beginner’s guide to colour.

3. White Space is your New Best Friend!

Whenever you design your layouts remember this mantra: less is (almost) always more (I say almost because ornate layouts can look lovely in the right context; see Tip 5 below…). Even layouts that have a lot going on—text, graphics, colour, the lot!—will always benefit from a bit of breathing space.

This is what graphic designers call ‘white space’, which is effectively space on the page that’s empty of visual content. It doesn’t necessarily need to be white in colour; just a blank bit of background with nothing on it. This helps focus the eye on the content you want to draw the viewer’s attention to, and it makes the layout much less stressful to look at.

Introduce more white space on your layout by cutting down on the quantity of content or resizing elements to create more room on the page. Try to stick to a maximum of two main focal points on the layout, like in this example, where the image and header are the only things seeking your attention.

4. Tweak your Typography…

…Is your text looking a little lacklustre? Adding a Drop Cap to the start of your opening paragraph or increasing your Leading (the space between lines of text) may be subtle changes, but they can work wonders for improving your designs. Setting your headings and sub-headings in different Weights (Bold, Italic, Light, Black etc) can also create visual separation in text-heavy layouts.

Another tip used by design professionals is to apply Optical Margin Alignment to paragraphs of text. This creates ‘Hung Punctuation’, shifting punctuation marks outside the boundaries of a text frame, creating a more uniform block of text. InDesign will also subtly move any overhanging serifs on letters, so your text looks more perfected and polished.

You can find the Optical Margin Alignment option in the Story panel in InDesign (Window > Type & Tables > Story).

5. Get Fancy with a Border!

Minimal layouts can look beautiful—clean, uncluttered and easy on the eye. But what if your layout’s looking more bare than minimal? Sometimes, a little touch of something fancy can lift your layout and transform it into something special.

The easiest way to give your layouts a touch of the ornate is to introduce a Border. Borders frame your content, drawing the eye inwards, just as a picture frame helps to focus the eye on the image it contains.

Create a border in InDesign by using the Rectangle Tool (M), accessible from the Tools panel. Use your margin lines as guides for getting the border perfectly sized; then adjust the look of the border using the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke) and Corner Options (Object > Corner Options). Here, I’ve used a ‘Thin-Thick-Thin’ Stroke Type and a ‘Fancy’ Corner Shape.

Take note of these five tips when you create your own layouts—you’ll be amazed how a few subtle tweaks can transform your designs! And remember, above all, have fun with creating layouts. Design is meant to be fun; so feel confident with experimenting and breaking the rules (in moderation!).

Enhance your layout designs with some fresh font inspiration for magazines, books, or print design; or check out our beginner InDesign tutorials page for more tips and tutorials!

The post Five Ways to Improve your Layouts Instantly… appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In this, the second part, we’ll delve further into the world of typography and look at the ‘Big Four’ – the four special typographic effects you can apply to your InDesign layouts to make them really stand-out…

1. Leading

Leading is the unsung workhorse of typography. If you’re looking at a paragraph of type and thinking “That looks great, but I can’t put my finger on why it looks so great”, it’s probably because the designer has applied some generous Leading to the text.

Leading is the word used to describe the space allocated between the lines of text in a block of type. Take a look at this example – at the top you’ve got a body of text with a default amount of leading applied, but the text on the page below that has a more generous leading. And it’s clear to see which one looks more clear and legible…

Leading is super simple to edit in InDesign; you can find the option to adjust it in the Character Formatting Controls panel, below the Font Size option:

2. T r a c k i n g

Tracking is the second of the typography ‘Big Four’ you should make a note of. Tracking defines the space between all characters (letters) in a section of text.

Upping the Tracking of type can make it instantly more legible, attractive and high-impact, without needing to increase the Font Size or adjust the Font Weight (e.g. to Bold or Black). Take a look at these two example chapter headings from the typesetting for an edition of Moby Dick. The lower example, with its increased Tracking, looks a bit more interesting, no?

You can find the option to adjust Tracking in InDesign, up in the Character Formatting Controls panel (when you have the Type Tool (T) selected), just along from the All Caps section. It’s symbolised by a two letters, ‘AV’ and a double-ended arrow. Hover over the icon and you’ll see that InDesign reminds you that this is for increasing or decreasing Tracking. 

By default, when you create any new text, the Tracking will be set to 0. But you can pick from a range of options for the spacing of your letters. You can reduce the space by picking from the negative values, giving the text a more compressed appearance, or you can choose to increase the spacing.

3. Kerning

Kerning is a much more subtle typographic technique, but it can really transform your type, and elevate it to a super-professional level. Kerning increases the space between individual characters, and it’s a great technique for evening out text that looks a little off-balance. It’s a particularly useful feature for transforming logos and headings.

Take a look at this example and play a game of ‘spot-the-difference’! If you think the lower heading looks a little more even and symmetrical you’d be right – a little bit of kerning between a couple of the letters has helped space out some of the characters that were a bit closer together.

To adjust Kerning in InDesign, set your type cursor between the two letters, head back up to the Character Formatting Controls panel and find the Kerning option just above the Tracking option. Click the arrow to the right of the text box to increase the space between the two letters by 10 units at a time.

4. Drop Caps

Another really cool typography feature in InDesign which can really pull your designs together is the option to apply a Drop Cap to your text.

A Drop Cap pulls out the first letter or few letters of a paragraph to a larger size, in units of lines of text. You can find the Drop Cap Number of Lines and Drop Cap One or More Characters options in the Character Formatting Controls panel, just along from the alignment and indent settings.A Drop Cap is a great technique for drawing attention to the start of a large body of text, and gives books, magazines and brochures a formal, elegant appearance. In this example, I’ve set the Drop Cap Number of Lines to 4.

For a quirkier typographic effect, you can increase the Drop Cap One or More Characters to pull more characters into the Drop Cap. Here, I’ve increased the Drop Cap One or More Characters to 4.

PRO TIP: Give your Drop Cap more breathing space by pushing the rest of the text further away from the Drop Cap. Set your cursor between the Drop Cap letter and the first letter of the remaining text, and increase the Kerning to move all the text adjacent to the Drop Cap.

Refresh your knowledge of typography basics with Part One of this tutorial or find some font inspiration for magazines, books, or print design to get started with using your typographic skills!

To learn more about using InDesign and expanding your skillset pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post Crash Course: How to Format Text Part 2 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In the first part of this two-part tutorial, we’ll give you a crash course in the basics of typography in InDesign, and find out:

• What ‘Typography’ actually is, and how you can create it in InDesign
• How you can format your text using the Character and Paragraph Formatting Controls panels

1. What is ‘Typography’ and How Do I Create it in InDesign?

InDesign is designed to give you flexibility and professional control over your typography.

What do we mean by ‘typography’? Well, typography is a term we use to describe text that has been specially formatted to create a particular look—typography can transform text from dull and illegible to beautiful and clear to read.

Here, the designer has transformed the text on this magazine cover to give it a playful, lively and 3D appearance. Check out more examples of creative typography in print design here.

Magazine: Harper’s Bazaar España; Publisher: SpainMedia

InDesign is designed to give you flexibility in formatting your typography. Because it’s a publishing design application, InDesign’s main focus is on helping you to create layouts, and text is a fundamental element of any layout. Master the basics of typography and there’s no limit to what you can produce in InDesign.

To create typographic effects in InDesign, you first need to select the Type Tool (T) from the Tools panel, and drag onto the page to create a text frame.

Place your type cursor into the frame to type some text, or import a Word document. Now you’re ready to apply formatting, and transform your text from simple type to extraordinary typography!

2. Get Familiar with the Character Formatting Controls panel…

…Let’s take a good look at the Controls panels which are going to allow us to apply formatting to text. You can find these up at the top of the InDesign workspace.

Just below the Application Bar, where you can see the InDesign logo, is the Controls panel. With just the default Selection Tool active, the Controls panel just shows navigational options, such as the position of your cursor on the page.

If we go over to the Tools panel, which is docked on the left-hand side of the Workspace, and click the ‘T’ symbol to select the Type Tool (T), and then click and drag on the page to create a text frame, you’ll notice that the Controls panel has suddenly changed.

Now there’s a small ‘A’ symbol to the far left of the panel. This indicates that the panel is now showing all the Character Formatting Controls. This includes all the options you need for formatting type.

So if I click into a text frame I’ve created and type in the word ‘Foodie’ and then highlight the word, I can start to play around with the look of the text using what’s available to me in this control panel.

First up, you can change the Font of the text. Click on the little arrows symbol to the right of this box, which should have Minion Pro set as its default, and you’ll find a long drop-down menu of all the fonts you have installed on your computer.

Let’s scroll down to ‘G’ and pick Gill Sans. And then just below the menu of fonts, or from the drop-down menu next to the font itself in the font list, we can also pick the Weight of the font – such as Bold, Italic, Light, SemiBold, etc.

We can adjust the Size of the text from up here too, which is measured out in points, by either selecting a value from the drop-down menu or by manually typing in a size directly into the box. 

3. Expand your Typographic Know-How with the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel…

…Now take a look at the far left of the Controls panel, where you can see the ‘A’ symbol. Below that there’s a little paragraph icon. Click on that and the Controls panel shifts again. Now we’re viewing the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel.

This panel has everything you need to use to format a whole paragraph of text. There are some things that are repeated here with the Character Formatting Controls panel, things like Font and Font Size options are still here, but they’ve been shifted over to the right side of the panel. Back over to the left-hand side, we’ve got all these new options to play with.

There are lots of new options that apply to larger sections of text. So if I just click my type cursor into this ‘New equipment and fittings for the home’ section of text in a text frame I created earlier, from the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel we can adjust things like the Alignment of the text, from this first section of the panel, and also apply things like Indents from the next section along.

Further along, you can also see a little check-box next to ‘Hyphenate’ which you can uncheck if you don’t want InDesign to split your words with hyphens, and instead tell it to push whole words onto the following line.

Basically whatever you set here, up in the Controls panel, will apply to just the paragraph of text that you have either highlighted or positioned your cursor into.

To recap, if you want to format isolated pieces of text, whether that’s several characters, words or phrases, you can use the Character Formatting Controls panel options, which will appear automatically when you select the Type Tool from the Tools panel.

If you want to format larger portions of text, like whole paragraphs, and be able to effect things like Alignment of text and Indents, you should click the paragraph symbol in the panel to switch to the Paragraph Formatting Controls panel. 

Get friendly with both of the Controls panel, and you’ll be able to format your typography really quickly and easily!

Check out Part Two of this tutorial to find out why you should get friendly with the Big Four of Typography: Leading, Tracking, Kerning and Drop Caps.

For more useful InDesign tutorials and tips pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post Crash Course: How to Format Text Part 1 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Read on to find out how you can quickly and easily delete excessive text without compromising your sanity…

1. The Tip That Will Banish Overset Text from your Documents…

We’ve all been there—perhaps opened up a document from a third party to find huge amounts of overset text errors or simply made the mistake of importing too much text in the first place. Rather than spending the time manually accessing and deleting the overset text…(I mean, seriously, who has time to highlight and delete pages upon pages of text?)…you can use a simple keyboard shortcut to select all the text sitting past where you place your type cursor.

First up, you may want to find out how much overset text you’re dealing with here; which is when the InDesign Story Editor feature comes in handy.

But you may just want to get rid of that text asap, and give your InDesign Preflight the green light. If that’s the case, take the Type Tool (T), then place your cursor at the end of the section of text you want to keep. Then use this keyboard shortcut to select all the remaining text, even text that isn’t visible on the document:

Use Ctrl if you’re using a Windows system, and Cmd if you’re on a Mac OS. If you can’t find an ‘End’ key on your mac keyboard, hold down the down arrow for a few seconds instead, to select all the text to the end.

Then simple hit Delete to banish the text forever, and make your Preflight panel very happy!

Discover more about threading text in InDesign efficiently through your InDesign documents, and how to create a book in InDesign. Looking for more tutorials and tips? Head on over to our InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Secret: How to Get Rid of Excessive Overset Text appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Why you should proof your InDesign documents

• How you can use the Preflight panel to perform a technical proof of your work

1. Why do I need to proof my InDesign work?

It’s amazing how many errors can become glaringly obvious on a printed document, compared to just glancing over it when it’s up on screen. But sadly there’s no ‘Undo’ button when your printed items get delivered. Proofing your InDesign work before you send it to print is an essential step in minimizing the number of errors, both in terms of content and on a technical level.

Before you even look into performing a Preflight, which we’ll take a more in-depth look at here, you should check for spelling errors by conducting a spell check. You can also get some more stats about the text content in your document by seeing what you can find out from the Info panel.

OK, so what is Preflight? It sounds like something you might have to do before an aircraft takes off, and it is really the same idea, but instead for preparing a design document to ‘take off’ from the screen to go to the printing press.

Before you can export your InDesign document to a print-ready format, you need to make sure that everything is going to print in the way that you want it to. The Preflight panel is going to flag up any technical issues that might cause a problem when you want to package your InDesign file, export it, or send it to a printer.

2. How do I perform a ‘Preflight’?

Preflight is an essential part of the InDesign proof process, and is especially important for addressing technical errors, like missing images, missing fonts or overset text.

Let’s see the Preflight panel in action…

…Here we have an open InDesign document. And at first glance, all looks fine. But then, if I take a look down at the bottom left of the screen, I notice a little red circle, next to some text reading ‘3 errors’. As long as there is a red circle here, this means that there are errors in the document that need to be addressed before I send the document to print.

If I double-click on the red circle, I will open up the Preflight panel. You can also access the Preflight panel from the top menu, under Window > Output > Preflight.

First up, at the top left of the panel you can see a check box for turning Preflight On and Off. As a rule, you should always have Preflight set to On. This means that InDesign will actively flag up technical errors as you work, and update them to ‘No errors’ as you resolve them.

In the main part of the panel is the Error window. In this window, Preflight lists the errors it’s found, and categorises them into different groups. At the top here, there’s one Links error, for example.

If I click on the grey arrow to the left of the text, the error message expands, to reveal it’s a missing link. Clicking the grey arrow again the name of the missing link is revealed. If you double-click the name of the link, InDesign will take you directly to it in your document. Handy!

Click to select the name of the link in the Preflight panel, then expand the Info window at the bottom of the panel. InDesign is trying to help you out here, so it tells you what the specific problem is, and how you can resolve it.

It’s telling me to head over to the Links panel and use the Relink button to find the missing file. With the missing link highlighted – it will be flagged up with a red question mark if missing – I click on the Relink button, symbolised by a chain link, at the bottom of the top section of the Links panel.

From here, I can track down the missing link, and click Open to relink it. Find out more about working with images in InDesign here.

That’s the missing link resolved, and I can see in the Preflight panel that the missing link error has vanished, and I’m left now with just two errors to deal with.

These remaining errors are something to do with Text, and I can find out more by again clicking the grey arrows to reveal the specific error, and then the specific location of the text error. What we’ve got here is two instances of overset text, where text is overspilling a text frame.

If I double-click on the ‘Text Frame’ name, I’m taken directly to the text frame with the overset text.

I then take my cursor and drag the frame down to extend it, until the text error disappears from the Preflight panel.

After resolving all the errors flagged up in the Preflight panel, the Preflight circle turns green and a message comes up at the bottom of the panel reading ‘No errors’. That’s when you know your Preflight is complete, and you’re ready to prepare your document to send to print.

The Preflight panel is a simple, one-stop solution for addressing technical errors in your InDesign layouts. Taking just 5 minutes to run a Preflight before you prepare your document for sending to a colleague or sending to print will make a huge difference to the final quality of your work. And you won’t be biting your nails when that print delivery box arrives!

Click to find out more about conducting a spell check of your InDesign work and how to add a bleed to your print designs. Looking for more tutorials and tips? Head on over to our InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: Proof your InDesign work with Preflight appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Consider everything listed here and in Part One, and there’s no need to fear sending your work to the press. Here in Part Two we’ll take you through:

• Why you should export to ‘Reader’s Spreads’

• How to accommodate for trimming and binding

• Choosing paper weights and finishes

• How to export and package your InDesign work

• Asking for a proof and providing a mock-up

• How to pick the right printing method for the job

1. Why you should export to ‘Reader’s Spreads’, not ‘Printer’s Spreads’

If you’re creating a document with multiple pages, such as a book, for sending to print, you might notice from existing examples of printed books that a page in the first chapter of a book is often physically connected to a page in the last chapter, forming a single spread.

The printed book has been put together by the printer using ‘Printer’s Spreads’. This is when the printer rearranges the order of the pages in order for the book to be bound.

Your job, however, is not to export your ‘print-ready’ file set up as Printer’s Spreads. It’s much simpler, both for you and the printer, if you set up your document as ‘Reader’s Spreads’, i.e. how the reader would actually view the document, page 1, then page 2, then page 3 etc.

Let the printer do their job (they’re pretty good at it, after all) – they will be able to arrange your print-ready file in the way that will work best for them to print and bind.

As a bonus, you’ll spare everyone a whole load of confusion at the press when you try to explain why page 2 is sat opposite page 15 (even more confusing if you haven’t included page numbers on your design!). This little parrot is just really confused about your attempt at Printer’s Spreads…

So don’t even go there – just export the file in the same page order that you’ve been working on in InDesign.

You should also include any blank pages that feature in your multi-page document, whether it’s a few pages at the beginning of a book, or the reverse side of some pages in an annual report. Sure, they don’t contain anything that needs to be actually printed, but including them in your exported file will help your printer understand the structure of the document, and accommodate for any blank pages you want included in the final print product.

2. Accommodate for trimming and binding

Once your design is printed, it will be trimmed. The excess parts of the paper (including the Slug and Bleed) will be cut away, leaving your final layout intact, up to the trim edge.

You should be aware that trimming errors can and do happen (printers are only human after all), but you can minimise the visibility of any slight trimming errors by doing two things. Firstly, as we mentioned over in Part One, you should include a Bleed.

A bleed is an extra space around the perimeter of your layout that extends past the edge of the page(s). You should always include a bleed if any elements (e.g. images, colored backgrounds) on your layout will cross the edge of the page (also known as the trim edge).

The second thing you can do to minimise trimming errors is to make your Margins lovely and wide. Margins that are narrow will appear even more narrow if the trim is out by a millimetre or two. So make sure you give your document generous margins (at least as wide as the InDesign default width of 12.7 mm). If in doubt, make them wider – while also minimising the visibility of a poor trim job, wide margins will also give your layouts room to breathe and make them look instantly more attractive.

3. Choose the right paper weight and finish

When you first start to draft your design on the computer, consider what sort of material your design will be printed on. Different paper weights and finishes can dramatically effect your final print result, and you should have a good idea of the sort of ‘look’ you’d like to achieve before you commit the work to print.

Design by Rita Neves

Firstly, you should choose a suitable Paper Weight (and I don’t mean a nice weighty stone that keeps your desk papers together). Paper comes in a large range of different ‘weights’, measured in GSM (Grams per Square Meter), which will effect how thick the paper feels. Thicker papers tend to be of better quality (and are therefore usually more expensive). You should feel confident selecting an appropriate paper weight that’s going to suit the item you’re printing (and your budget!).

Here are our recommendations for paper weights:

• If you are printing a newspaper a low GSM would be suitable, something between 35 and 55 GSM.
• Flyers or low-market brochures might need a slightly heavier paper, around 110 to 160 GSM.
• Magazine covers tend to be on the heavier side, from around 180 GSM for a mid-market title, edging up to over 250 GSM for a high-end glossy.
• For a sturdier card weight, like a business card, you should be looking at upwards of 350 GSM to give a luxurious, weighty feel.

You also should know a bit about Paper Finishes. Your printer will ask you to provide a combination of paper specifications for the job – your desired weight and finish. Finishes fall into two main categories – Coated and Uncoated.

Uncoated paper is a suitable choice for printing letterhead, stationery or lower-quality leaflets and flyers. The feel of the finish is smoother and stronger than standard copy paper.

Coated paper falls into two sub-groups – matte-coated and gloss-coated. Matte-coated gives a smooth, unglossy finish and can give your print documents a modern, pared-back look. Gloss-coated paper is smooth and with a slightly reflective finish, giving your documents a glossy, high-end look. Because the ink sits on the surface of the coating, rather than absorbing into the paper, colors appear more vibrant and rich.

This parrot would love to be printed on gloss-coated paper if possible:

4. Exporting and Packaging your InDesign files

Once you’ve completed your InDesign work, and feel ready to go to print, you can export your design as a print-ready file. In theory this print-ready file is suitable for going straight to press.

It’s a wise idea to get in touch with the printer first and see if they have a preferred format for print-ready files. Most printers would probably prefer a Press Quality PDF (Portable Document Format) version of your design, but they might also accept files in other CMYK-compatible formats, such as high-resolution (minimum 300 dpi) JPEG or TIFF files.

To export your InDesign document, go to File > Export on the main menu and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format drop-down menu in the Export window.

In the Export Adobe PDF window that opens, choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu.

You should also make sure to export your print-ready file with the Bleed included. If you’re exporting to a PDF format, you can check the option in the Export window to include a bleed.

You can also choose to include Printer’s Marks in your exported print-ready file, which includes trim and crop marks, center marks, and page information. These can be really useful to the printer when preparing your work for the press.

If your printer has requested the original InDesign, or ‘native’, files, this is because this gives the printer the freedom to re-export the file if they need to make any minor technical adjustments. You will need to Package your InDesign file before you send it. Check out this quick and simple tutorial on how to package your files.

5. Provide a mock-up and ask for a print proof

You can’t expect your printer to be a mind-reader; they can only work from what they have been given, in terms of the print-ready or native (e.g. InDesign, Photoshop etc.) files, as well as from your instructions given over email, phone or face-to-face in person. Before you commit to the print run, there are two things you can do that will really help your printer to complete the job in the way you want it to.

The first thing you can do is to create a physical mock-up of the document you are sending to print and share this with your printer. This is especially useful if your document has multiple pages or complicated elements like folds and die cuts, that might not be immediately obvious looking at the print-ready digital file only.

There’s no problem with your mock-up being a bit rough-and-ready, printed at home or at the office – just make sure it shows the final layout of the document clearly, and be sure to incorporate essential info like page numbers, for example. It might also be useful to indicate where pages should be printed on one side or both sides.

Once you’ve shared you mock-up with the printer, and handed over your print-ready file(s), ask if the printer can give you a professional print proof for checking and sign-off, before proceeding with the full print-run. Most printers will offer a proof at no extra cost to the agreed quote for the full print run, and you’d be amazed at how many errors and mistakes can be suddenly glaringly obvious when down on printed paper! Rectify the file if you need to, get a second proof if you have the time, and give the go-ahead for the full print-run only when you’re happy.

6. Pick the right printing method for the job!

Before you select the printer you’re going to use to print your designs, you should know a little about the main print services commercial printers use. The print process can differ depending on the printer, with some championing more traditional offset printing and others singing the praises of digital printing. Commercial printers generally fall into two camps (though some offer both services): Digital Printing or Offset Litho Printing.

Offset printing is a very common commercial printing process, suitable for high volumes. The image to be printed is burned onto a plate and then transferred (offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket, before transferring to the printing surface. Image quality in offset printing is high and the process is cost-efficient at high volumes, so it’s a popular and usually pretty safe choice.

Digital printing is less mechanical, so it takes less time to prepare for printing. As a result, turn-around times for print jobs are quicker, and printing at low-volumes is also better-value. The jury’s still out on whether image quality is quite as good as that offered by the offset printing process.

Either printing method could be suitable for your job, depending on your project’s requirements. Shop around your local area and check out what different printers are offering, in terms of price and quality, for each print method.

7. You’re ready to print…

…In this two-part tutorial (find Part One here) we’ve taken a look at some of the key things you need to think about when preparing your InDesign documents for print. Use the following as your essential checklist when you prepare and send an InDesign document for print.

• Remember to include a Bleed in your InDesign document
• Optimise colour for printing by using CMYK (and Spot Colours) only
• Check the legibility of type by printing a sample and asking others to read it
• Ensure all the images used in your design are high-resolution (more than 300 DPI)
• Export your InDesign file as ‘Reader’s Spreads’
• Accommodate for trimming errors by including a Bleed and increasing the width of margins
•  Think about which paper weight and finish will suit your print project
• Export and package your InDesign work ready for sending to the printer
• Provide the printer with a mock-up for multi-page or folded documents and ask for a print proof
• Pick the right printing method for the job (Digital or Offset Litho)

If you check off every item in this list you’re guaranteed to have no nasty shocks when the printer drops off that delivery box. And you’ll make this colourful, print-friendly macaw very, very happy…

Check out Part One of this tutorial to find out more about preparing your InDesign work for print. For more handy InDesign tips and tricks head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post How to Prepare Your InDesign Work for Print: Part 2 of 2 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

But there’s no need to panic! We’ll take you through the only checklist you’ll ever need for preparing and sending any InDesign document to print. In the first part of this two-part tutorial we’ll look at:

• Why you should never forget about the Bleed!

• How to optimise colour for printing

• How to maximise the legibility of text

• How to print your images at the highest quality possible

Check out Part Two of this tutorial to find out about exporting your work to ‘Reader’s Spreads‘, choosing paper weights and finishes and selecting the right printing method for the job.

1. Don’t forget the Bleed!

It’s a printer’s worst (and without a doubt most common) nightmare – receiving a ‘print-ready’ file from a customer that doesn’t have a bleed. Don’t be that customer!

Be nice to your friendly neighbourhood printer and be sure to include a bleed (and export it) when you set up your document on the computer.

Familiarise yourself with what a bleed is, how to set one up on your InDesign work, and how to export your print-ready file with a bleed included, by clicking here.

2. Optimise your colour for print

Every macaw worth his salt knows that colour is at the heart of the print process.

A combination of coloured inks (even if your document is only in black and white) creates your printed result. Get familiar with the main rules for printing colour, and you’ll feel much more confident about creating layouts that look as good on printed paper as they do on your computer screen.

First up, always remember to render your InDesign work in CMYK, not RGB.

You should (almost; see comments on Spot Colors below) always set colour in your print layouts in a CMYK colour mode. CMYK refers to the four inks that are used in four-color printing, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black). Each colour in your design will be printed using a combination of these four inks.

You should never set your print documents in an RGB color mode (even if you’ve been working in an RGB file, make sure to convert the file on export to CMYK). RGB (which is rendered through interaction of Red, Green and Blue light) is only suitable for layouts that will be viewed online or in digital format on screen.

Though you will almost always print using CMYK, you should also be aware of when it’s appropriate to include Spot Colours in your print-ready files. Spot, sometimes termed ‘Solid’, colors, are created by an ink, either pure or mixed, that is printed on a single print run.

What this means is that if you choose to include a Spot color (e.g. a Pantone color, or metallic or fluorescent inks) in your print design, the printer will have to prepare a completely separate plate for the spot color to be printed.

Including Spot colours in your artwork can have its advantages – the final colour result is often much more accurate (more spot-on!), with less colour variation. On larger print runs using Spot colours can even be more economical (if you’re dealing with three or less than three colors). However, on short print runs including Spot colors in your designs can be pricey; make sure you get a quote from your printer before you incorporate a Spot color into your design.

3. Maximise the legibility of text

This parrot doesn’t have fantastic eyesight.

He struggles to read text set at a small 10 pt size, and he’s certainly not alone. Even if your eyesight is fantastic, others may struggle to read small-size text without some difficulty.

What this ill-sighted parrot demonstrates is that you must aim to get your text sizing right! A common issue you may encounter when sending your work to print is that the size of text appears too big or too small. Type Size is really important to get right, as illegible documents, however good-looking, will be immediately off-putting to a reader.

Also consider choosing appropriate font sizing to suit both the document type and the audience for the document. Who will be reading my brochure/poster/book? Will they be expected to spend more time reading it (e.g. a book layout) or will it only be attracting a quick glance (e.g. a flyer or poster)?

If you’re creating layouts for a book, it’s probably OK to size type a little on the smaller side (pick up some tips on how to create book layouts in InDesign with this tutorial), but you might need to amp up the size of text on a flyer, to make sure you catch and hold the attention of a casual reader.

The best way to make sure you’re using the right font size is to print out a sample of the layout at actual size, and ask a few colleagues or (patient) friends to look it over. How many people in your sample found the size OK to read? If fewer than 90% of your sample had difficulty with the type size, change it!

Related to the size of text, and equally important, is also the Weight of the typeface – is it too thin and faint when printed? Do you need to set that sentence in Bold to make it stand out? Can you draw the eye to something important or different by applying an Italic weight, for example?

4. Ensure your graphics are printed in high-resolution

Every macaw (and I mean every macaw) wants their photos to be printed in crisp and clear high-resolution. Including these two. They’ll get pretty angry otherwise…

If you’re including graphics in your print layout, whether that’s photos or illustrations, you have to make sure they are of high enough resolution to print. Low-resolution images produce blurry, pixelated print results. High-resolution graphics, by contrast, will look sharp and clear when you go to the printing press.

You should be aware from the start, when you begin to put together your layouts in InDesign, that different image formats can appear very different on the printed page.

Photographs often cause the most misery when producing print layouts – this is because they are Bitmap graphics, not vectors. Bitmap graphics (e.g. JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PSD) are made up of a number of tiny pixels. If you resize a bitmap graphic, and then resave it, some of the quality of the original image can be lost (particularly problematic with JPEG images), which results in a more pixelated image. You should make sure that your bitmap images have a high rate of DPI (see comments on DPI below) before you include them in your print designs.

Vector graphics, like Illustrator (AI) and EPS file formats, are made up of scalable objects, and as a result will not lose their quality if resized.

The final word on image format is as long as the quality of the image(s) is high (the DPI is high [more than 300 DPI as a rough guide]), there’s no reason why both bitmap and vector graphics can’t work equally well in your print layouts.

You must also learn to recognise the difference between image size and image quality. Say a colleague or client has sent over a JPEG image that they want you to use in your design, and from what you can see, the file size is OK – between 3 and 5 MB. But then you open up the file and see that the image appears pixelated and, frankly, a bit rubbish. What gives?

The picture of the parrot on the left is the same file size as the image of the parrot on the right, but the DPI for the left-hand image is higher, which results in a crisper, clearer image.

Even though the file size of the image is usually a good indicator of quality, the quality of a bitmap image is not determined by the size of the file, or even the dimensions of the image. Quality is determined by DPI (Dots per Inch). DPI describes the resolution number of dots per inch that make up the colors and tones of an image.

You should always aim for a high DPI count for any image you’re hoping to use in a print layout. If your options are exhausted, and you have to use a slightly blurry or pixelated image, with a lower DPI, consider first upping the DPI manually in Photoshop and then setting it a reduced scale in your design. Remember that pixelation and blurring will appear much more obvious on the printed page than it will on screen.

Check out Part Two of this tutorial to find out more about preparing, exporting and sending your InDesign work to print. For more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post How to Prepare Your InDesign Work for Print: Part 1 of 2 appeared first on InDesignSkills.

Here, we’ll give you an overview of:

• What ‘Rich Black’ is and why you should use it for your print designs

• How to create a ‘Rich Black’ and adjust it for warmer or cooler tones

1. Why Does My ‘Black’ Look Washed Out?

You’ll notice that InDesign provides you with a default [Black] swatch in the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) when you create any new print document.

You’ll also notice that when you colour text or other elements in your InDesign document with this [Black] CMYK swatch and send the document to print, that the result can come out looking…well…a little more grey than black.

This is because the default [Black] swatch provided in the Swatches panel isn’t actually a true black at all – it’s just 100% of the Key (Black) pigment from the CMYK spectrum, and O% of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

Nobody wants their blacks to look less than dark, dramatic and high-contrast! Sorry, grey cat…

To remedy your washed-out black, you need to create a New CMYK Swatch, something printers and industry-insiders know as a ‘Rich Black’.

A Rich Black is a much darker, truer black that looks like the depths of space, the dead of night, or indeed this very black cat…

2. How Do I Create a ‘Rich Black’?

To create a Rich Black, you simply need to increase the levels of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow when you create a new CMYK swatch, and keep the level of Key (Black) at a level of 100%.

To create a new CMYK Swatch, open up the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and click to select one of the existing color swatches (any will do). Click on the New Swatch icon at the bottom of the panel, or select New Color Swatch… from the panel’s drop-down menu.

In the Create New Swatch window, first up the level of K to 100%.

Now you have to decide what kind of Rich Black you want to create. That’s right – there’s no single set value for a Rich Black swatch. You can create a warmer or cooler Rich Black depending on the levels you set for Yellow (warmer) and Cyan (cooler).

Try out these different Rich Black settings to create different subtle tones in your printed result:

• Cool Rich Black: C=60 M=50 Y=40 K=100
• Warm Rich Black: C=40 M=60 Y=60 K=100

Different printers will often have different preferences for processing Rich Black. So if you’re still unsure what to use, just get in touch with your printer and ask after their recommendation for CMYK levels of Rich Black.

3. OK…That’s simple enough. Anything else I should know?

Yes! You should never use the [Registration] swatch provided in the InDesign Swatches panel as a substitute for black.

Why? Because [Registration] is 100% of everything – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key – and will cause a lot of problems for printing if you use it on your finished document.

The [Registration] swatch is only used on Registration Marks, which are visible when you export your InDesign document as a print-ready PDF file.

Stick with a Rich Black, and you’ll be sure to create darkly dramatic, high-contrast print results every time! Look how happy this cat is now that he knows you’ll be able to print text and graphics in a lovely true black color…

Find out more about understanding and working with colour in InDesign and how to prepare your documents for print by adding a Bleed to your print designs.

To discover more handy InDesign tips and tutorials head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Tips: How Do I Print True Black? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How you can use the Info panel in InDesign to conduct a word-count

• How you can find out other information about your InDesign document using the Info panel

1. What is the Info panel?

The Info panel is going to give you a lot of info about your document, unsurprisingly…

…Let’s get the panel opened up. To do this, go to the Window option on the menu bar and select Info from the drop-down menu.

It’s about a third of the way down. Or, you could just tap F8 on the keyboard to open it up.

So here it is – the Info panel.

It’s a tiny little panel but it’s quite powerful, and from this you can do a number of useful tasks to do with text, which can be particularly useful if you’re working with a text-heavy document like a book or a magazine, and you might need to check some details either to pass on to a colleague or to the publisher. 

2. How Do I Use the Info panel?

You can conduct a word-count, a character-count, a paragraph-count and also a line-count from the Info panel.

At the moment, the panel’s looking a bit empty, but that’s because you’ve not got any of the text in the document selected.

Let’s just show you how the Info panel works. To demonstrate, I’m going to navigate to the first page of a magazine document in InDesign (Learn how to create a magazine from scratch with our series of tutorials here).

Select the Type Tool from the Tools panel (or hit T on the keyboard). You can either highlight the text in a text frame, or if you just want to make a count of all the text that’s sat in the text frame, and might be linked to other text frames, you can just simply sit your cursor somewhere in the text in the frame.

So here I click once into the ‘Fresh Autumn Flavors!’ sub-heading, and the Info panel pauses for a moment before the lower half of the panel fills with information about the text in that frame. The Info panel’s telling us that there are 21 characters in this frame, 3 words, 3 lines, and 2 paragraphs.

So that may not be so useful if you’re just looking at a sub-heading, but if we want to find out the word count of a much larger piece of text that can be much more useful.

Now if I take our Type cursor and just highlight all the text in the first column on this page of the magazine document, beginning with the text ‘JO JAN travels to Maine…’, we will just get text counts for the highlighted text only appearing in the Info panel.

In this first column we’ve got about 140 words, and 3 paragraphs.

But if we just place the cursor anywhere in that text frame, or in one of the text frames it’s connected to, we’ll get a full text count for all the text that sits in those linked frames, and it will include text that’s flowing over onto other pages as well. Here we can tell that the article has 837 words, for example. 

Now imagine if you’ve got a scenario where you need to be keeping within a specified word count for a long document, like a book, for example. Just by placing your Type cursor in one of the text frames in the document and opening the Info panel, you’re equipped to find out the total word count of the document instantly (depending on whether all the text frames are successfully threaded to each other).

The Info panel is a useful little InDesign function to be aware of. It can be especially useful when you come to the editing stages of a text-heavy document – it’s good to know that you can retrieve quite a bit of detail about the quantity of text by simply going to Window > Info.

Click to find out more about creating InDesign documents or How to add a bleed to your print designs. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: How to Conduct a Word-Count appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• The basics of color theory, including the three main color models – RGB, CMYK and Spot Color
• How you can change and manage InDesign’s color mode

1. What is RGB Color and When Do I Use It?

‘RGB’ stands for Red, Green and Blue. RGB color is rendered through the emission of light from the screen of a digital device.

The light generated by your device’s screen, so whether that’s a desktop or laptop computer, a tablet, or an eBook reader, is made up of red, blue and green light, which combine in different ways to create different colors.

Because RGB color is created via colored light, not colored ink, it is optimised for digital and web design, not print design. So, you should only be looking to use an RGB Color Mode when creating designs for digital publishing (e.g. eBooks) or for online use (e.g. web banners).

Skip to the end of the page to find out how you can adjust InDesign’s Color Mode…

2. What is CMYK Color and When Do I Use It?

CMYK color is very different to RGB color, as CMYK is based on a combination of coloured inks, not light.

‘CMYK’ stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (which is Black). These four colours are the base inks which can be combined to create a huge spectrum of different colors.

Because CMYK is based on a combination of colored inks, it’s ideally suited for creating documents for print.

So basically, whenever you’re working on a document you think at some point will be printed in some way or another, whether that’s at home, in-office or through a commercial printer, you should always be working in a CMYK Colour Mode.

When you set colours in your InDesign document to CMYK color swatches, you create a Process Separation. What does this mean? This means that all the CMYK colours on your layout will be printed onto one plate during the printing process, in one single print run. Because CMYK color can be printed in one go, on a single print run, this keeps the printing process efficient and the cost of the print job low (depending on the print volume).

3. What is a ‘Spot’ Color and When Do I Use It?

What can be mind-boggling is that CMYK is not the only type of colour model that is suitable for printing. You can also use something called Spot Colors in your print designs.

OK…so what’s a Spot Color? When you define a color in your InDesign document as a Spot Color, the color will be pulled onto a separate printing plate and the color will have to be printed during a separate print run. This is called a Spot Separation.

So, when would you want to use a Spot Color?

This can be useful if you want to ensure that a particular color is going to be printed very accurately, without any variation, and if this is what you’d like to achieve you can set the Spot Color as a Pantone Color.

Pantone is an international color-matching system, that gives standardised colour pigments a unique number. Pantone colours are more complex than CMYK colors, and can be made up from a combination of 13, rather than only 4 (for CMYK), base pigments. As a result you can source more unique and special colors from the Pantone catalogue.

You can also use a Spot Color in your designs when you want to print a special kind of ink, like metallics or flourescents, which don’t feature in the range of CMYK options.

4. OK…But When Should I Use CMYK and/or Spot Colors in InDesign?

Let’s simplify the CMYK and Spot Color systems, and break down when you would use either of the models or a combination of both on your InDesign work…

…If you’re creating an InDesign layout that uses more than three colours you shouldn’t normally need to use any Spot Color, unless like we’ve just talked about, if you want to create a particularly special color effect with a Pantone, metallic or fluorescent. In most cases, you should be looking at just setting your color in CMYK.

This is because the printer would have to perform a separate, additional print run for each Spot Color you apply to the document. This adds time and money to the print job. So if you’re creating something in full-color, you can feel confident that setting your whole document in CMYK is the best way to go.

If you do want to use a Spot Color in your design and keep your printing costs down, the best thing to do is create a black and white document which just uses one single pop of color, which you can set as a Spot Color. And because you’re not printing a full-color layout, that’s going to keep the print job more economical, particularly if you’re printing in large volumes.

If you’re still feeling a little confused about color – that’s OK, it is a bit confusing – just remember that 9 times out of 10 CMYK color is the way to go!

And the other key thing to remember is that you should never print in RGB color, unless you want some very unpredictable results. And you should only really need to use Spot Colors in special instances.

5. How Do I Adjust the Color Mode in InDesign?

When you first create a new document in InDesign, you can adjust the Color Mode of the document by setting the Intent of the document to Print (CMYK), Web (RGB) or Digital Publishing (RGB).

By choosing Print from the Intent drop-down menu, InDesign automatically sets the Color Mode of the new document to CMYK. All the default colours stored in the Swatches panel are set as CMYK Color Swatches.

However, this doesn’t actually prevent you from creating new Color Swatches that are RGB (not suitable if you’re creating for print) or Spot Color (can be OK, depending on your desired print result) swatches, or prevent you from placing graphics into your InDesign document that have an RGB colorspace.

As you work on your print documents you need to keep an eye out that you’re sticking to CMYK colours. And the best way to do this is to manage colour in InDesign, which you can do from the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches).

Click to find out more about creating InDesign documents or How to add a bleed to your print designs. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: The Beginner’s Guide to Color appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How you can use the Page Tool to create custom page sizes as you work
• How the Liquid Layout function can keep the content of your page proportional
• How Master pages can help you achieve easy-peasy page size changes in your InDesign document

1. Meet your new best friend…the Page Tool

You probably already know how to create a new InDesign document which shares the same page size and orientation throughout. But what happens when you want to resize a single page to, say, provide a pull-out section in the middle of a book? Or you want to rotate a page to allow the viewer to read a single page in landscape, rather than portrait, format?

This is where the Page Tool (Shift + P) comes in handy. The Page Tool (Shift + P) is a really useful little tool that you can find in the Tools panel.

Up near the top of the Tools panel, just the third option down, is the Page Tool. It looks like a white rectangle with a small cursor at the corner. 

Click the Page Tool to activate it. Now, here we have a few pages from this layout for Foodie Magazine, just to demonstrate. Now, let’s say the printer has been in touch with me, and wants the back cover of the magazine to be slightly larger than the inside pages of the magazine. This seems pretty unlikely, unless we were going to be creating a hard-bound cover, but let’s just take this as an example.

With the Page Tool selected I then click onto the back cover page to tell the Page Tool that this is the page we want to resize. Small white extension marks have appeared around the edge of the page.

To resize the page, I need to navigate up to the controls panel running along the top of the workspace. You’ll notice that some new options have appeared. We’ve got some text boxes where we can manually type in a revised Width and/or Height measurement for the page. So you can resize using that method, if you want to create a non-standard size for the page.

To the right of the Height and Width text boxes you can also access a drop-down menu of standard page sizes. So we can adjust the page size to something like A3 or Letter, or we can select a pre-saved Custom Page Size from the options towards the top of the menu if we scroll upwards.

Let’s set a custom Width and Height, adding 2 mm to the size on all sides. So I can type in 214 mm for the Width and 301 mm for the Height.

And we are also given the option to adjust the orientation of the page, from the Landscape and Portrait icons to the right of the standard page size drop-down menu.

And then, when we’re happy with the revised size of the page we can go back to the usual Selection Tool, by clicking the top black cursor in the Tools panel, and begin to reshuffle and resize the content on the page to fit the page’s new dimensions.

2. Hmm…OK…but how do I keep the content on the page proportional?

Well that’s all fine I guess…but isn’t there a more efficient way of reorganising your page’s content once you’ve resized something?

Well, the answer is yes – there’s this nifty feature called Liquid Layout, which arranges the content on the page according to how you resize it, and to what orientation you set the page to.

We can see a very reduced option for applying Liquid Layout from this top control panel, but let’s open up the full Liquid Layout panel, so we can take a really good look. Go to Window > Interactive > Liquid Layout.

You’ll notice that this panel is greyed out whenever we don’t have the Page Tool selected. Keep the Page Tool selected in order to use Liquid Layout.

The default Liquid Layout Rule is called Controlled by Master. That means that whatever Rule has been applied to a Master, will be applied in turn to the page or pages that Master is applied to.

From the Pages panel I can see that this back cover page has a Master called ‘E-Back Cover’ applied to it. So let’s double-click that Master page to bring it up on screen.

When I select the E-Master with the Page Tool, the Liquid Layout panel tells me that the Liquid Layout Rule is set to Off. So this means when I resize any page with the E-Master applied to it, nothing will happen to the content on the page.

But if I return to the Master and adjust the Liquid Layout Rule to Re-center, for example, you’ll see that I can now the content of the page remains centered on the page as I resize.

If I choose Scale as the Liquid Layout Rule for the Master, the content will resize, and scale up or down uniformly, as you resize the page.

Note: If I want to permanently change the size of the page I have to hold down the Alt key while I resize. If I don’t the page will just snap back to size.

Pretty neat. This is particularly useful when you have a lot of carefully prepared content on your page, and you don’t want to lose the proportions. 

And that’s how you resize pages in your InDesign documents using the Page Tool. The rule of thumb is:

• If your page is blank or has very little content, you can just resize using the options available in the Controls Panel at the top of the InDesign Workspace.

• If your page is content-heavy, open the Liquid Layout panel (Window > Interactive > Liquid Layout); set the Rule of the page to Controlled by Master, and adjust the Master’s Liquid Layout Rule to one of the following options: Scale, Re-center, Object-Based, or Guide-Based, depending on how you want your content to adjust on the page that has that Master applied to it. This will keep give you much more control over the arrangement of elements on the page.

Using the Page Tool, and becoming familiar with the Liquid Layout function, in InDesign can really transform the way you approach designing and editing documents. They allow you to be flexible in your work, accommodating changes to page size and orientation without having to rethink the whole layout of the page from scratch.

To find out more about pages and Masters InDesign, check out our detailed look at the Pages panel here. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: How Do I Change the Size of a Page in My Document? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• What the heck is a Bleed??
• When do I need to use a Bleed?
• How do I add a Bleed to my InDesign document?
• How do I export my document, including the Bleed?

1. So…what exactly is a Bleed?

This is a really common question, so don’t worry if you don’t know (or think you know, but aren’t completely sure!).

A Bleed is the area just extending past the edge of the page, past the trim edge. So here in this diagram you can see the edge of the bleed marked out skirting around the outer edge of the page.

A Bleed acts as a margin of error when the document is trimmed, after it’s been printed. So, if you have any content that will cross the edge of the page, such as a coloured background or maybe an image, you should extend it into the bleed to avoid any white lines appearing around the edge of your document. Printers are human after all – trimming errors can happen, and they are just an inevitable part of the print process. This could just be a tiny millimetre-wide margin of error, but if you don’t extend your content into a bleed, it will still be visible.

By including a bleed in your InDesign documents you can help to make your final print product look flawless, and minimise the visibility of any trimming errors.

2. When do I need to use a Bleed?

A Bleed is essential to include if you’re creating any document for print. The rule for applying a bleed in InDesign is as follows:

If you’re creating a single page document you can set a bleed all the way around the document.

But if you’re creating a document with facing pages, that’s going to be bound, like a book, you don’t need to include a bleed on the inside edge. Firstly, because nobody’s going to see it, as the page edge will be sucked into the bind, and second, because if you export the InDesign document as a spread (not as single pages), the bleeds on the inside edges (the inside is the edge of the page that will be bound) will cross onto the opposite page, which is unsightly, like in the example below.

This magazine spread was mistakenly set up with a 5 mm bleed on the Inside Edge, but on exporting the spread as a PDF, it becomes apparent that the content of the inside bleed has spilled onto each opposing page. You can see that the image of the fish has crossed the central page divider, and spilled into the image of the boats.

If you’re creating a document made up of facing pages, that you’re intending to bind, be sure to set the bleed on the Top, Bottom and Outside edges only. We’ll take a look at how you can set up your bleed in InDesign next.

3. Add a Bleed to your InDesign document

It’s best to set up your InDesign document with a bleed before you start working on your document. You can add a bleed later, by going to File > Document Setup, but it can be fiddly as InDesign will only apply your revised settings to the pages you currently have selected.

The best place to start is right at the beginning of the process, in the New Document window. When you go to File > New > Document to create a new InDesign document (or select New > Document from the Welcome window), the option to apply a bleed to your document is down at the bottom of the New Document window, just above Slug.

In this example, I want to create the inside pages for a paperback book. Because the pages are going to be bound in the center of each spread, I won’t need a bleed on the Inside edge.

I type in 3 mm into the Top Bleed text box, then click the chain icon at the far right of the Outside text box to break the uniform values, and get rid of the bleed on the Inside edge, reducing it to 0 mm. Once I’ve set up the rest of my document I can close the panel and create the new document by clicking OK.

4. Export your InDesign document with a Bleed

Once you’ve finished your InDesign artwork and are ready to export it to a print-ready format, you should ensure that your beautiful bleed is exported along with the rest of the document.

The best way to prepare a print-ready file is to export the document as a PDF. Go to File > Export and select Adobe PDF (Print) from the drop-down menu in the Export window.

Click Save.

In the Export Adobe PDF window, under the General options, select [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset drop-down menu.

From the menu on the left-hand side of the window select Marks and Bleeds to open up a new set of options.

Under Marks, check All Printer’s Marks.

To ensure your carefully prepared bleed is included in the final exported file, check Use Document Bleed Settings under Bleed and Slug.

Click Export at the bottom right corner of the window to create your PDF file. Your file will now include your predefined bleed, and is ready to send to the printers.

Adding a bleed to your InDesign documents is essential when creating documents that will be printed professionally. Avoid unsightly trim errors (or even worse a lecture from your disgruntled printer!) by being sure to include a bleed in all your InDesign work. To find out more about setting up documents in InDesign, check out our detailed look at the New Document panel here. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks pay a visit to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: What is a Bleed and When Do I Use It? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

In this article we’re going to analyse what Adobe applications have to offer in simple terms, and look at:

• When to use InDesign for a design project

• The benefits of combining multiple Adobe applications to achieve your end result

• Why we think InDesign is the most versatile and creative Adobe design application available

You may be new to using InDesign and still not feel completely confident that you know when to use InDesign.

Sure, you may have heard that InDesign is the industry-standard software for publishing design – but what does that mean? And what does that blanket term encompass? Let’s break it down into simple, straightforward terms…

When should I use other Adobe applications?

So, say your boss gives you a project that requires some design input. How do you know if you should be firing up InDesign, or looking for a different application to tackle the task? This is a really commonly asked question, because quite simply there are tons of different software options out there for performing design tasks. The range of choices can be overwhelming!

It has to be said that Adobe is king of all that is desktop design. Adobe offers a huge range of applications, which are designed to work together in harmony to produce super professional results.

It’s important to know that there are other Adobe applications out there that can support your InDesign workflow. If you have access to Creative Cloud (CC) you will have access to a suite of applications, all of which are fine-tuned to work in-sync with each other.

First up, quite possibly the most used tool by designers is Photoshop. Photoshop is great for editing images. You can play around with filters and masks to dramatically transform and combine raster pictures (image files made up of pixels); it’s also a great tool for playing around with colour.

Second up, Illustrator. Illustrator is a fantastic image-editing programme designed to work with vector images, not raster. Vector images are scalable and are made up of lines and anchor points.

Photoshop and Illustrator, together with InDesign, make up the trinity of Adobe design applications. If you want to create anything for print, you can get by very well indeed with just these three guys.

Then there’s also Bridge, which, as its name implies, is a bridging tool for use between applications. Bridge helps you preview, filter and organise the contents of your computer, allowing you to easily drop in images into applications while you work.

And then on top of these core Creative Suite programmes, there are all these other extra applications which will make your brain spin! Web design applications are being created and enhanced all the time – Dreamweaver is a code-based web-design programme, then there’s Flash for creating flash video files, Fireworks for image editing for web, and Muse, which is Adobe’s newer web-design offering. Adobe have also released applications specifically designed to engage with responsive and mobile web design – Edge Reflow, Edge Animate, Edge Code and Edge Inspect.

Then you’ve also got applications that delve into photo management (Lightroom), copywriting and editing (InCopy) and video production and editing (Premiere Pro and After Effects).

Phew! That’s a lot to take in! But all you need to be aware of, for any layout* project you’re tackling, is these four programmes – InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Bridge. Plus of course Adobe Acrobat is essential if you’re producing documents that are going to be print-ready.

Photoshop, Illustrator and Bridge all work intuitively with InDesign. You can use Photoshop to edit images before you place them into your InDesign documents. You can create vectors in Illustrator for adding illustrated content to your InDesign layouts. And you can make use of Bridge as a useful go-between for managing your images.

OK…but when should I use InDesign specifically?

It’s great to know you have the option to access all these different applications when you’re working on a design project – it’s like you have a little support network, and with the new release of Creative Cloud 2015 that support base is only going to grow and evolve further. But here’s the big secret that few designers will tell you but many designers know…

…all you need to use is InDesign.

You can apply basic editing and effects to images in InDesign. You can also create simple vector illustrations using the Tools available in InDesign.

If you need to create a layout with a combination of text, images and colour, or with either text or images alone, you can cope without a problem by simply using InDesign alone.

So long as you’re not creating images from scratch, 9 times out of 10 you can just use InDesign and not need to use any other programme.

If you want to focus on the quality of your text and typography, and have maximum control over design and content, InDesign is your new best friend. The formatting options are endless, and you can also exercise control over content with things like the Spell Check and Footnotes functions.

Ultimately, if you want to be creative in your designs and not be limited by performing tasks on a computer, InDesign is superb for enabling your creativity.

It’s just like having a pen or pencil in your hand, and a designer’s worktop in front of you – the flexible workplace means you can play around with different looks and layouts really easily.

And that’s why InDesign is awesome – you can use it in conjunction with other Adobe software, or on its own – either way you’re going to be able to create something both fantastically creative and professionally polished.

So you’re saying I only ever need to use InDesign?

Erm, nope, that’s not exactly what we’re saying…

…This is certainly not a call for you to instantly delete your other Creative Suite applications – just know that InDesign is the most versatile application of the bunch, and as a result can help you tackle a huge range of tasks. If you’re producing layouts for print, digital and even online, Adobe InDesign is your guy.

You should treat other Adobe applications, Illustrator, Photoshop and Bridge, as a support network. Dip in and out of them; using them to edit, create or organise more complex images to incorporate into your InDesign layouts.

Develop a broader and more flexible work pattern, using InDesign predominantly for creating, drafting and finalising layouts, and you’ll quickly see your workflow speed improve and your creative potential expand.

Ready to learn more about using InDesign? To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post The Adobe Overview: When to Use InDesign appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• Why packaging your InDesign work is an important step after proofing and Preflight

• How to Package your InDesign file

Why should I package my InDesign files?

If you want to send your InDesign document to a colleague, client or to the printers, you should ‘package’ the file so that all the linked elements in your document are retrieved and contained in a ready-to-send folder.

It’s a common error to send on your unpackaged InDesign file via email, large file transfer or USB. The recipient will be able to open and view the file, but the linked images will flag up as missing in the Links panel. Unless the recipient also has all the relevant fonts installed on their computer, the fonts you carefully applied in your original document will also be listed as missing, and will be replaced with a temporary alternative font in InDesign.

This is frustrating for both you and the recipient and may even result in erroneous changes being made to your document. Let’s look at how you can Package your InDesign work and prevent a headache!

Step 1: Proof and Preflight

I’ve prepared the artwork for a magazine cover, in InDesign, for the next issue of Foodie Magazine. Learn how to design layouts for the magazine with our fun series of tutorials.

I first check the document for errors (check out how to perform a Spell Check on your document here) and perform a Preflight (Window > Output > Preflight); then save the file (File > Save) once I’m happy.

Then I go up to File > Package.

Step 2: Check for Errors

The Package options window opens. To the left of the window there is a list of options.

Navigate down through the options and check the box that says Show Problems Only for each option. So here, under Fonts we have no problems. Great!

But here, under Links and Images two images are flagged up as using an RGB colour space (not CMYK, which would be better suited for print).

However, this isn’t a problem as the InDesign file will eventually be exported to a print PDF for printing, and all RGB colour will be converted to CMYK. So let’s not take any action on that; and go ahead and click the Package button.

Step 3: Save and Navigate to Your Packaged File

Click OK and select an appropriate place to save the packaged file.

InDesign will package your file in your chosen location. Navigate to the location and you can see that InDesign has placed a copy of the InDesign (.indd) file in the folder, alongside folders for Links and Document Fonts, and a copy of your entered Instructions.

You can share your packaged folder straight away via USB or Hard Drive; or you can compress the file (e.g. in ZIP format) to send over email or large file transfer.

Great work! Your recipient will be thrilled!

Packaging files is a simple and essential skill that will help to preserve your InDesign work as you intended, no matter how many individuals you share your file with. To find more useful InDesign tips and tricks head over to our beginner InDesign tutorials page.

The post InDesign Basics: Why Package Your InDesign Files? appeared first on InDesignSkills.

• How to create Character Styles and Paragraph Styles

• How to create Object Styles

• How to apply your saved Styles to elements in your InDesign document

Step 1: Find and Open the Styles panels

You can find all the Styles panels by going to Window > Styles. Here you’ll find five options for applying styles to different elements. When you open a particular Style panel, you’ll notice that they group with other related Style windows.

Character Styles and Paragraph Styles can both be applied to text. A Character Style remembers formatting for single characters, words or phrases. A Paragraph Style will remember the formatting applied to a whole paragraph (a section of text separated from other text by line breaks).

Table, Table Styles and Cell Styles are grouped together in one panel.

Object Styles has its own panel (Window > Styles > Object Styles). You can apply an Object Style to graphics, shapes and frames.

Step 2: Create and Apply a Character Style

Once you’ve formatted a letter, word or phrase, you can save your edits as a Character Style, to apply to other parts of your text with ease. In this example, for a magazine layout, I have set the first word of a short extract in a decorative font, LeckerliOne Regular, and set the size to 32 pt and the colour to a dark red CMYK swatch. The text is also aligned center.

Open the Character Styles panel (Window > Styles > Character Styles). Highlight the relevant text and either click on the small square icon at the bottom right of the panel (Create new style) or select New Character Style from the panel’s drop-down menu.

The New Character Style window opens. You can give the style a recognisable name, and scroll through the formatting options from the left-hand menu; editing them further if you want to.

Click OK and the Style appears in the Character Styles panel. Highlight individual letters, words or phrases in the text of your document and simply click on the Style’s name in the panel to apply it.